Discoveries
by Prophe-Cass
Summary: After Allura and the White Lion fused, the Paladins continued on their way. But now everyone had recently noticed the change in personality that Shiro's had. It's now up to one small Paladin to save the day…runnig into several deadly wounds along the way. Nothing's too big for a Paladin…right…? Oh, and there's one last thing. Keith has a family. Which is alive. AU, Pre Season 6
1. Chapter 1

March 10th, 2018, Saturday

"It's me." Keith hailed the castle, and a slight sound of pleasure arose from the opposite line. "So don't blast me. I have someone you have to meet."

"Keith, welcome! We're looking forward to seeing…whoever it is with you." Allura greeted him, and he could practically picture the smile spreading on her face. "Please dock in hanger XX-Y59. All others are being used by Galra civilians, freedom fighters, and of course, the…Lions."

"Of course." Keith nodded, glancing behind his shoulder at his mother. The latter stood in a corner, her arms crossed, slightly bent over by the slope in the ship. Her yellow eyes were downcast, her purple skin shadowed by her mullet. "We'll be there in a minute."

Krolia raised her head as he shut of the coms, a curious expression written on her face. "They'll let us in just like that?" She snapped her fingers, making sure to put a certain air to it. "I thought there'd be more to it then that."

"Eh. They're not the best at security, but I like it that way, because they don't put in too much fuss in my visiting. Can you imagine that every time Kolivan gives us a break, we have to answer hundreds of questions just to enter the castle?"

Krolia snorted at his statement. "You did that to me." She recalled her son collapsing at her feet after she admitting her origins, and then, as soon as he came to again, bombarded her with questions. "And may I say, that is not proper behavior for a son."

"It is when his mother has been missing for fifteen whole years." Keith grumbled, gently easing the pod forward as he pulled the topic back to his friends. "I wonder how they're all doing. I haven't spoken to them for a few months."

A soft smile touched Krolia's face as she remembered something from long ago. "I felt that same way after leaving the Blade to go to Earth, leaving you and your father, and after being sent to that base. I know how you feel."

Keith glanced at her, a question on his lips, but one he didn't dare ask until Krolia prompted him. "Why DID you leave us?" He ventured, worry lacing his brow.

"I was immature back then, only seeking after my own glory. After having you and A…uh, I left. To go to space again, to look for my destiny."

Keith pressed a button and the chair backed up to the point where he could stand up. He pushed himself to his feet as the pod, which was in autopilot, pulled into the hanger, hovering. "And who?!" He demanded, pressing his palms to his hips as he arched an eyebrow.

"That…that was a misspeak! I mean…er, uh…I hate it when you back me into these situations. Just like your father." Krolia was making a vain attempt to change the subject, to distract Keith until further notice at the very least.

Keith would not be swayed, however. He deftly raised his noise, a motion he was accustomed with. "And WHO?! Are you saying I have a sibling?"

"I don't want you to get your hopes up, she left me three human years ago. She may be dead."

"So basically you're saying I have a sister." Keith sniffed, arching a black eyebrow quizzically at at her.

"I…guess I am. Somewhere. She may be in a grave somewhere."

Suddenly a memory surged back Keith, a black and white sword pressed against a gun, a young women's young eyes narrowed into slits as she stared at him. And then another memory occurred to him. Back to back the two spun, sniping and slicing at the tan blobs, a perfect duo. He remembered her teammates shouting for her, and his lips instinctively formed the words, almost without his brains consent. "Acxa."

Krolia's face seemed to lengthen as she stared at him, her mouth dropping open as her eyebrows reached in the opposite direction. "Acxa." She repeated. "You've met? Or at least…heard about her?"

"Yeah." Keith's face darkened. "I can't believe I didn't make the connection before. Stupid!" He exclaimed, face palming.

Krolia's face twisted with an emotion similar to guilt, but not quite. Fear? "Acxa IS your sister. I didn't want you to get your hopes up, in case she's…dead. We stopped communicating two years ago, ever since she joined the prince."

Keith scowled, anger flooding his gaze. "She's alive. Or at least, she WAS three months ago."

"That's better then nothin'." Krolia mused, glancing at the dash board pointedly, and Keith took her point.

The subject was dropped as Keith lowered the ship, frowning to himself in thought.

Upon exited, the two relatives were met by the Paladins, although Keith noticed in the back of his mind that Pidge was missing. He figured that she was out looking for her father.

Shiro glanced at Krolia, then turned his attention to Keith, and back to the Galra woman, exchanging his attention between them, a odd expression on his face. Lance was considered her carefully, his eyebrows knit together. Coran and Allura shook his hands excitedly, enjoying the Earth custom and ignoring Krolia completely.

Krolia wasn't as comfortable with everything that was happening as Keith was, partly because Hunk wouldn't get out of her face, trying to figure out why she looked so familiar. She noticed Lotor behind the Yellow Paladin's head, and frowned. This was the man who had recruited her daughter, the man who had ordered them not to communicate, for the sake of HIS mission. And where was her daughter now? That was the question lurking in her mind.

"Hello." Lance, the Red Paladin, shoved Hunk to one side with his right hand. "I'm Lance. And who the heck are you?"

Krolia realized that he was flirting, so she decided to play along, offering a typical Kogane grin. "I'm Krolia. I'm flattered to have the chance to meet a Paladin of Voltron!"

"Yeah, we're a big deal." Lance wiggled his eyebrows, and Krolia forced herself not to roll her eyes. Out of her peripheral vision she witnessed Keith watching them, rolling his eyes and smirking at Lance's obliviousness. "I can…I dunno, give you a tour later?"

"Yes, I'd enjoy that. Maybe I can see you form Voltron sometime, too?" Krolia prompted, her last sentence the only one she actually meant the entire conversation.

"I'd love that! Except…we're a Paladin short." Lance suddenly froze, his eyes widening as he obviously said something she shouldn't have.

"Lance, what?" Keith breathed, taking a step towards the lanky Paladin. When Lance didn't answer, he continued sharply. "Step away from my mother and answer me!"

"What?" Lance didn't comprehend the rest of Keith's sentence, taking two steps away from Krolia. "You're his mother?! But you're…purple. Hmm… but that mullet IS a dead giveaway…"

"Ugh! Allura? Shiro? What's going on?!" Keith snapped, his eyes darting around nervously as his fingers clenched into fists.

"W…well…Pidge, you see, is…well…" Allura hesitated, pursuing her lips as she glanced at Shiro, shifting her weight.

The Black Paladin, calmly, evenly, responded to her pitiful look. "Pidge is currently in a coma. We don't understand the details yet."

"I need to see her." Keith tried to barrel past them, but Lotor held him back.

"Listen to me, young one. She is in a COMA. That means she can't be disrupted."

"That's EXACTLY what it does NOT mean!" Keith snapped, yanking himself out of Lotor's grasp. "You couldn't spare to tell ME?! DON'T I HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN MY FAMILY?!" Keith tried to wrangle out of Allura's grip, for the princess was clutching him tightly, trying to hold him back.

The princess sent a pleading look over at Krolia, who understood. She approached her son, grabbing his hair. She thrust him against a wall, her eyes glowing a sinister yellow.

"Man up! You're nineteen, and you better start acting like it!" She growled, her nails digging into his scalp enough to draw blood.

"I'm not nineteen!" Keith glared, and, before any of them could blink, practically climbed up the wall, gaining momentum. He swung himself onto Krolia's shoulders, leaning backwards and making her collapse to the ground.

There was a collective gasp as the Paladins simultaneously took five steps back, waiting.

Keith easily rolled of her shoulders, and she recovered from her shock within milliseconds. She backflipped, landing on her feet, her legs bent.

As Keith rose to his feet, her back facing him, he began to back away, hoping that she wouldn't…

She did. She suddenly sprang her body backwards, clutching his legs as she pulled him towards her, eyes flashing.

Keith flipped from her grasp, rolling towards Shiro and Lance's legs. Both stepped three steps away from, him, exchanging an unsure glance.

Keith rolled away, this time having control of his body, just as Krolia landed squarely where his body had been a second before. Her arms were outstretched, her haunches close to the ground as she looked at her fleeing son as he barreled onto his feet.

He whipped around, his blade flashing as he unsheathed it, a low growl arising from his throat.

"Shiro!" Allura hissed, swerving around Lance to get to the man in question. "Hit me!"

"Wha…?" Shiro began, staring at her, gaze flickering over to the Koganes, who were literally at each other's throats.

"Hit me!"

Shiro, puzzled, slapped her with his human hand.

"No!" Allura hissed through clenched teeth. "Hit me with your Galra arm. Activated."

"I'm not going to-"

"Com'n! You never held back before!"

"I'm not sure that's tru-"

"Hit me!"

There was a surge of purple light as Shiro brought his hand across her face, bruising her face, nearly slitting it open.

"Thanks!" Allura nodded, her face beginning to glow pinkish-purple. The glow left her cheek and tracked to her fingers, and magic burst from her nails, freezing Krolia and Keith, levitating them. The magic began to fade, and swear trickled down her face. "You two! What can you possibly have to gain by dueling one another? I WILL show you to Pidge, Keith, but first you must get a hold of yourself! Ms. Kogane, please. You must know you are not acting as a mother should!" The light finally disappeared and both Koganes collapsed, and both managed to land on their feet, sending Allura identical glares.

Lotor responded to their expressions before Allura had the chance. He rested his arm around the exhausted Altean's shoulders, gently pulling her to him as he glared at the duo.

Keith and Krolia switched their burning glare from the princess to each other, narrowing their eyes as they got a hold of themselves. They could have been twins if their skin, eye, and hair colors were the same.

Eventually the two broke way from their angry daze, facing the Paladins.

Hesitantly, Keith answered Allura's suggestion. "Thanks, Princess. That'll be great." He took a deep breathe as if to prove that he was okay, and Allura nodded curtly. He was ready to see Pidge.

"Allura, if you don't mind, may I borrow Coran and the remaining Paladins for a moment?" Lotor offered, and was given a simple hand gesture that granted permission.

The two Koganes trailed after Allura, one's mind was set on the Paladin, and the other was studying everything they passed.

"How…what happened?" Keith decisively asked after a few moments of silent walking. "To Pidge?"

"We…we have no idea." Allura admitted, freezing so suddenly that Keith narrowly avoided collision. The princess's hands twisted into fist her shoulders shook. "It all happened so suddenly. We noticed that Pidge hadn't attended breakfast,"

"Which is unusual," Keith broke in.

"Yes, but we didn't call her because we didn't want to interrupt a project. Then she didn't come for lunch,"

"Which is strange, considering if she misses breakfast she usually fills up the absence with lunch." Keith continued.

"Indeed. We began to look for her, and eventually discovered her two Vargas later, collapsed in Green Lion's cockpit."

"Did you put her in a pod?" Keith asked, his fingers clenching and unclenching.

"That was the first thing we did, but it released her within ticks. Nothing was wrong with her except…" Keith could see a tear trickle gently off Allura's chin and frowned to himself.

"Except she's in a coma." He finished, biting his lip.

"She…hasn't woken up for nearly two days now. Our camera recordings say that she just got up out of bed, walked into the Green Lion, and never exited." Allura had been continuing in her brisk walk during the last bit of their conversation, and was now cracking open the infirmary's drawer.

Pidge lay still and emotionless on one of the spare beds, her hair strewn out in a mess all over the pillow. A tube, filled with water, was stuck in her left arm, and her glasses were removed. Her lips were parted, moving ever so unnoticeably, it almost appeared that she was talking to someone.

"She's so frail…" whispered Krolia, leaning down at the girl's side. "She's so small, weak…she's just a child…did you say that she was a Paladin? Children shouldn't be so good at war…"

"Yeah, the Green one. I know, I know. It threw me off at first too…" Keith grumbled. "Allura, a word."

Krolia ignored the distant sounds of the two talking, instead staring intently at the small girl.

Pidge's eye lids twitched, and then, it seemed like magic, her eyes opened, turned, and focused on Krolia.

In a tired, frail, frightened, sad, determined voice, and also slightly flabbergasted, Pidge mumbled "Keith?"

* * *

 **Author's note;**

 **Don't worry. This book will continue! I'm not going to leave it like that!**


	2. Chapter 2

March 14th, 2018, Wednesday.

Keith stood just outside of Pidge's vision, so she couldn't see him without craning her head.

So when she said his name and wasn't looking at him…well, Keith took a step closer, wondering if she was seeing things.

"You're over reacting." Krolia said gently. "I'm-"

"-You're not Keith." Pidge dully finished, grabbing her head and moaning. "I swear, if this is another weird vision…ugh. My whole head feels-"

"Pidge." Keith gently called, taking his place in front of her.

Pidge's gaze trampled over to him, relief flooding her expression as her shock dissolved. "Boy, am I happy to see you! Wait, then who are you?" Pidge's faze flickered back to Krolia. "Wait a moment…" Keith opened up his mouth to answer her question but Pidge cut him off. "You two look kinda alike…Keith, is this your mother?!"

"Pidge." Allura interrupted, slightly taken aback by the Paladin's cheerful attitude. "Are you quite alright? You were in a coma for two days."

"I'm fine!" Pidge brightly responded, and, as if to prove it, sat up and tried to pull out the needle.

Allura took over with the extraction, ripping out the long needle.

Pidge flinched at the movement, but quickly disguised it with swinging her legs over the mattress and standing up.

"Pidge are you quite all right?" Krolia asked, standing over her protectively like, well, a mother.

"I'm fine." Pidge sniped. "It's not like the coma was serious. ANYway, are you Keith's mom? Sister? Cousin? Betrothed?"

Keith grunted, Allura blinked. And Krolia, well, she smirked. "Mother. Don't worry."

"Hmm…" Pidge rearranged her feet, trying to get the hang of using her legs again. "Did I miss anything? Do you need me to fix something?"

"Before you do need stuff, we should probably tell the others you're awake." It didn't sound like an order, but with Keith, everything was a command.

"As if he'd care." Pidge hissed underneath her breath.

"Whatcha say?" Krolia asked.

"Never mind." Pidge grumbled. Then her eyes brightened. "Keith, this is great! You found your mother, and I found the rest of my family! This is great!" Pidge often rambled, losing track of her words as soon as they left her mouth. So repeating words wasn't surprising to anyone, except Krolia.

Krolia had half expected Pidge to at least carefully think our her words before barreling into topics. She WAS the smart one, after all.

"You found your dad?"

"Yeah, don't you listen? That's how Lotor killed Zarkon."

"I was away on a mission! All I heard was that Zarkon was dead." Keith admitted, crossing his arms.

"You may be Kolivan's devoted soldier, but he still won't tell you everything." Krolia was talking to herself, her eyes shut. A pale yellow glow shone from underneath her eyelids, which was slightly unnerving.

Allura headed for the coms, alerting the Paladins that Pidge was awake.

"Are you positive you're okay?" Keith asked, and Pidge's right foot shuffled awkwardly.

"I'm being completely serious when I say this; I'm completely fine, I don't understand why you're so worried, and I need my computer."

Allura glanced at her in exasperation, shaking her head. "Where were you going in the Green Lion?" She inquired, receiving a stressed expression from the youngest Paladin.

"That's MY business." Pidge finally settled on saying, her lips pursing together. "Not yours. I need time to think, and-"

The door flying open interrupted her, and she was immediately incased in Hunk's arms, her legs a good two feet in the air, her body completely buried in his embrace.

"Man, are you okay?! I thought you were going to die or something, and when the healing pod spat you out, I thought that it was broken and that you were going to die or…wait did I already say that?! Am I crying? I feel like crying."

Flatly, Pidge repeated her claim of perfectly fine.

Lance joined in the hug, and Lotor offered her a pat on the head and soft smile.

"I'm FINE." Pidge grumped, frustrated with all the attention. "Please get off of me." Instead of obeying her request, they just hung on more tightly.

Pidge peered around the room from over Hunk's shoulder, and, in a quiet, strangled voice, she whispered, "hypothesis confirmed. I knew it."

Hunk and Lance, who were the only ones close enough to hear, exchanged a look, their eyebrows raised in confusion. Lance looked around, and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, shrugged in confusion.

"You sure you're okay, Pidge?" Hunk asked, setting her down.

"Just hungry." Pidge's gaze fluttered over to Lotor and her eyebrows raised for a split second before she glanced back over at Hunk. "What's for lunch?"

"Probably something spicy. I think Keith would appreciate that." Hunk glanced at the ex-Red Paladin and frowned. "I think…"

Pidge smirked, and the Paladins realized how much they had missed her smile in the thirty-eight hours she had been unconscious. "Yeah, I think he would. His mom, too."

"Are you sure you're okay? You're unsteady on your feet."

"I was in a coma for like, two days! I'm amazed that this is the only side effect." Pidge frowned, then began to glance around in confusion. "Wait a-where's my glasses?"

Lotor handed them to her and she plopped them on her nose, grinning confidently up at him.

"Thanks!" She grinned. "If you all don't mind, I'm gonna head of to my Lio-"

"Nope!" Krolia grabbed her shoulder, smiling. "You just woke up, I'm fairly certain your teammates would LOVE to fuss over you."

The scowl that greeted her made the Paladins laugh, their overflowing joy at knowing that their youngest Paladin was safe. Weak, maybe, but safe. Awake. Alive.

 **Author's Note; Sorry for the long wait. I had a writer's block, and so had to end it here. Hopefully the third chapter will come out in one or two days.**


	3. Chapter 3

March 15th, 2018, Thursday

A few days later, Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Allura, and Lance were coming back from a mission; Hunk had stayed with his lion to do repairs.

Pidge abruptly stopped as they trekked back to the bridge, touching the Black Paladin's arm. "Shiro, may I speak to you?" Pidge asked, uncertainly cocking her head at him.

He sent her a exaggerated glance and fell a few steps back from the rest of the group, listening to her hushed words with an uninterested expression on her face.

Keith blinked at them before touching Allura's shoulders gently. "Uh…princess? Lance? I need to…tell you something."

"What's on your mind?" Asked Lance, sidestepping so that the ex-Paladin could step in between them.

"Well, we, that's Krolia and me, well, we've been here for two days already, and feel like we should be getting back to the blade. So…we were going to say goodbye soon." Keith explained, watching Allura's pained expression deepen. "But it won't be for long." He promised, quickly covering up his hurtful statement.

"We'll miss you." Allura's gaze softened slightly. "Have you told Shiro yet?"

"He's busy." Keith glanced over his shoulder at Shiro, who looked like he was only half listening to Pidge. "And…I don't want to interrupt."

"It IS the first conversation, I mean, first real conversation, that he's had with Pidge since he disappeared from the Black Lion." Lance noted, taking in Pidge's intense expression as she stared up at Shiro, frustration on her face as her leader shot back a sharp retort. "Even though it's not going exactly the way I thought it'd go."

Pidge bit her lip as Shiro continued with his rant, freezing in her footsteps. She glanced over at the three friends, worry in her gaze as she glanced at the Black Paladin in exasperation, shaking her head.

"Well, at least it's something." Allura murmured, her lips sagging into a frown.

The three comrades turned their attention towards each other again, where they had formed into a triangle. Allura rested her fingertips elegantly on Keith's shoulder. "We want you to be happy, Keith, but we miss you. Can't you stay just a…little longer? Please?"

Lance rested his hand on Keith's opposite shoulder, his usually kind face turning dark. "Yeah, the Princess is right. I need someone to argue with!"

"You have Shiro." Allura sarcastically reminded him, her eyebrows narrowing.

"Yeah, but he's the big boss." Lance frowned, putting both hands on his hips. "It just seems…wrong."

"What do you mean?" Keith inquired. "You've been arguing with Shiro?"

"Yeah. He seems…reckless. Doesn't think things through just…goes for it. Isn't concerned for our safety. Different." Lance admitted, a frustrated expression crossing his face. "And I've been having problems with it."

"We both have." Allura sighed, her proud position faltering as her shoulders sagged in defeat. "He's just so…so…"

"Not himself." Lance pulled Allura closer, one arm around her shoulders.

"Exactly!" Allura cast another look over at Shiro, where the argument was getting heated. "Not himself. Exactly like that."

HKeith heard Lance repeat to himself in a soft, hesitant voice "he was trying to tell me something…"

"Hmm…?" Allura inquired, turning her face towards the lanky Paladin, obviously picking his words as well.

"N-Nothing." Lance stammered, his eyes fixed on Keith. "Before you go, I wanna show you something with my Bayard. In the training room."

"Okay. I still have some time to kill. We're planning on going tonight, so we'll be…"

Suddenly a furious roar leapt from the ground beneath their feet, causing the three to jump. Keith, doing a quick calculation, frowned. "We're above Green, but why-?"

Then the other four Lion's echoed her warning, and this time Keith, who had not completely burned away his connection with the Red and Black Lions, was able to pick out grief, fear, and pleading. Pleading what?

"Holy-!" Lance's exclamation was cut off abruptly as his Bayard transformed into his gun, his eye blazing. Keith was facing the opposite direction of the current Red Paladin, so it took him a moment to pivot.

What he saw alarmed him.

Shiro's robotic arm was glowing, but his entire hand was invisible to them, for it was buried up to its wrist in Pidge's flesh. The girl's stomach was torn open, her eyes stretched wide with surprise, her jaw gaping. Shiro's human hand was wrapped around her throat, strangling her. So, in short, Pidge was dying and Shiro was killing her.

Keith's heart thudded in his chest as he watched. He noticed, almost in slow motion, Lance tightening his finger ton the trigger, the laser bolt exploding from the gun, finally knocking into Shiro's temple.

The Paladin was knocked across the room, his arm getting torn from Pidge's body, making the hole bigger, as if that was possible. His human hand tore away some of the flesh on her neck from it's tight hold, revealing the muscles and tendons.

Allura is instantly at the Green Paladins side, just as the child's knees buckle and she collapsed, her pupils quivering at she stared straight ahead, her fingers pressed to her stomach.

Keith and Lance joined the two females, and the latter leaned down uncertainly.

"Outta my way!" Keith gruffly shoved away Lance, and in turn pushed Allura's head out of the way.

He tore off the leggings from his suit, ending the ripping at his knees. He wrapped the cloth around Pidge's stomach, and was shocked as blood soaked it with moments.

"Geez." He hissed through clenched teeth, tears beginning to blur his eyes. What if…? No. NO! He couldn't think like that. What was Lance always saying? Oh, yeah. First comes positive. Then you do subtraction. It didn't make sense, but Keith headed his words. First positive.

At least Pidge wasn't dead yet. At least her breathing hadn't stopped yet. At least she apparently had more blood in her body then he thought. At least she hadn't bleed out yet. Quiznak, he was bad at this. Keith almost laughed at his current state, trying to think positive in a hopeless situation.

A cackle interrupted his thoughts, coming from where Shiro had landed. Although it was in the Black Paladin's voice, it was Haggar's words.

"Zarkon would've been pleased." Shiro hissed, raising his head. His eyes weren't his usual dull grey. They were yellow. Bright yellow. Glowing yellow. "I have finally, FINALLY completed the mission he sent me on."

"No!" Keith growled, lunging at him.

Allura grabbed his arms weakly, but with a firm enough grip to keep him by her side. By Pidge's side.

"I have finally banished two Paladins from this realm." Shiro/Haggar continued. "The Green one is as good as dead. And the Black one…well…you can see for yourself. I'm not him!" A cackle arose from his lips, and his arms, which had been supporting him up to this moment, gave way and he fell in a heap, still laughing.

Keith grabbed his knife and threw it with all his might, and it dug into Shiro's shoulder, the cracking of bones echoing around Keith's head.

"Keith…" Lance's voice brought him back to the present, and the man in question tilted his head to glare at his successor. "We need to get Pidge to a pod. So get a grip. Allura, run ahead and prepare a pod. Keith, help me carry Pidge to the infirmary. After we get her to safety, we can come back and quarantine Shiro."

Was Lance…giving him orders? Somehow, in the back of his mind, it made perfect sense.

"Allura, go ahead. Keith, grab Pidge's legs. I'll grab 'er arms." Lance clutched the girl's top limbs, making sure not to stretch them. "We're going to have to carry her carefully. Think you can do that?"

"I'm older then you." Keith sniffed.

"Yeah, doesn't mean you're careful." Lance pointed out. "On three we lift. One…two…"

"…three!" Keith lifted Pidge easily, hit with the sudden realization that…geez, this kid was LIGHT.

She groaned when she was lifted up, stirring slightly. She was unconscious, which made carrying her easier. If she was awake, she would have been thrashing wildly, insisting on walking herself.

Pidge lips moved, much like two days ago when she had been unconscious. Again, it looked like she was talking to someone…

"Okay. Right foot. Left foot. Go a little faster. And, Keith, as you're moving backwards, keep your eyes on me. Not on Pidge."

Keith concentrated on his breathing, watching Lance's calm expression. When had this kid grown up? Matured? He wasn't the stupid brat he had been, he was a calm, collected adult.

Keith's mother's words rang in his head; "Children shouldn't be so good at war…" his eyes drifted back to Pidge. Pidge, who his mother had been referring to at the time. She hadn't screamed, hadn't made a sound when Shiro had attacked her.

'Shiro.'

Shiro was Japanese for white. Keith knew because Shiro had told him himself.

Kuro, however, was Japanese for Black. And that's what Keith choose to call the attacker. Kuro. But that seemed wrong. That's what Shiro had called the Black Lion.

He'd have to choose a different name. Later.

When they entered the infirmary, Allura was speaking to Krolia's quietly. Both women turned when they entered, Krolia instantly gesturing for them to put Pidge down.

They obeyed, and she felt for the girl's pulse. "Slow. Uneven." Krolia noted, prying off the gauntlets. "Allura, get the leg armor. You boys, go contain Shiro."

Two simultaneous nods greeted her, and the two hurried from the room as the females helped their fellow.

Keith and Lance found Shiro, still unconscious, laying on the floor.

"So. Uh…same prison that Lotor was in?" Lance asked, frowning gently.

"Uh…I don't know. I have no idea what or where the prison was."

"Oh. Because right after that you had to…oh. Yeah." The two males stood there awkwardly for a moment, looking away from each other.

"Look, I…I know it really scared you guys when I-" Keith began after a moments pause, before hesitating.

"When you what?" Lance prompted.

"Tried to fly into the shields." Keith frowned, as if it were obvious.

"What? When?"

You mean you don't know? Those were the words that haunted Keith's thoughts, but he shook then off. Of course they don't know, he concluded. Why would they? I left them. Like mom left me. Sure she came back, but after SIXTEEN. LONG. YEARS.

"Not important. Now, you gonna help me drag him or what?" But, while Keith disguised his thoughts, they still wandering there, lurking and threatening to spill off his tongue.

* * *

Her breathing came as short, frustrated gasps. She could feel the familiar Paladin under suit beneath her fingers, and she managed to take a few deep, haggard breathes.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm here. Want to talk about it?"

Metal fingers dug their way through her hair, untangling rats in her hair, that she knew would still be there when she regained consciousness.

"You're okay." He hummed again, the human hand perched upon her shoulder.

But she didn't WANT to talk. To accept that nothing happened. She just wanted to cry, to assure herself that he was there, he wouldn't hurt her. He never WOULD hurt her.

"I…I'm fine." She finally admitted, wiping away her tears as she took another breath. "I just…I'm sorry. It happened so suddenly…I thought I would die. I probably shouldn't be complaining though. You've probably faced worse a million times."

Her friend's mouth tipped upward at the corners, a sad smile posted on his lips. "But you're important too. Don't worry." He dusted away a tear that trickled down her cheek, fondly looking down at her. "Everything will work out okay. Want to tell me how it happened?"

"No. No, not really. It's not important now. Once I find a way to bring you back, safe and sound, we can talk. Tell each other everything."

"Like how the search for your family's coming along."

"Yeah. Yeah, exactly like that." She nodded, leaning against him again, hugging him tightly. "Exactly like that."

"You're scared." He commented, feeling her quintessence spiking.

"Yeah." She agreed, lip quivering. "Really, really scared."

"It's okay to be frightened." He crooned, running his fingers through her hair once again.

"I think I know what planet you're on." She whimpered, her grip on him strengthening. "Just hold on, Shiro."

 **Author's Note; So…umm…yeah. Grifftalon called it. I guess I'm predictable? Geez. Yeah. Yeeaaah. I've been planning this chapter for a while, but I don't know exactly how to continue it. Help?**

 **Reviews are appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

March 17th, 2018, Saturday.

It seemed to Krolia that Pidge's pulse slowed with every piece of armor that was extracted from her body. And, yeah, every piece of armor pulled off was another milliliter of blood added to Keith's bandages. But, because they were probably the only thing stopping Pidge from bleeding out of the spot, the two females let them be, refusing to replace them with REAL bandages.

Eventually, the last piece of armor remaining was the breast plate, and, being the biggest piece of armor, was hardest to pull from off. After all, Pidge was laying on the ground. And they couldn't risk moving her into a upright position without hurting her. But, as Allura stated, Shiro had already hurt her, so how much more pain would this cause? It probably wouldn't even amount to how much pain Pidge had already been forced into.

"I still don't like this." Krolia snarled as both women leaned The Green Paladin gently onto a pod.

"I know. But for the sake of healing her…no matter. Krolia, push that button right there…that's the release lever. And here we are." Allura pursed her lips, pulling the armor partly off. Unfortunately, there was a problem. Her arms. "Can you raise Pidge's right arm, I'll lift her left. On three we'll use our free hands to lift up her chest plate. One tick. Two tick."

"Three!" Both females pulled the armor fully off, letting Pidge's limp arms fall back to her sides. "There we go." Krolia sighed, leaning back on her haunches. "So, where are the jumpsuits we usually outfit them with before stuffing them into a pod?"

"I'll get it…" Allura opened a drawer on the bottom of the healing pod before finding the proper size of garments.

"Are you kidding me?" Krolia groaned. "That'll be really baggy on her! Which moron taught you to pick suit sizes?"

"My father." Allura flashed back. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Help me get this on her, 'Kay? I'll show you why it looks like it'll fit…fit…"

"Shiro." Wrong choice of words.

Allura flinched visibly before nodding. "Yes. Just like that."

After some hastily removing of Keith's makeshift bandages, the two aliens managed to put Pidge into the suit.

"I still think it looks three times her size." Krolia deadpanned.

"But look at this." Allura leaned Pidge forward gently before pointing to a pattern on the back of the outfit. "See the spinal cord printed onto this cloth? If you push it…" Allura's fingers gently pressed onto the design and the outfit shrunk to skin-tight. "Ta-da! Perfect fit. Now, keep Pidge still for a moment…" she pressed a button on the pod, which magically opened. "Let's get her into here."

Krolia hesitated for a brief second to feel for Pidge's pulse. It was hardly beating at all. "And not a moment too soon." Krolia murmured as she helped Allura press Pidge into the pod.

At that moment, Hunk ran in, swear forming on his face. "Guys, my lion just roared for no reason and-!" Hunk froze, staring at the three females. "What in the world just happened to Pidge?"

* * *

"So."

"So." Shiro repeated, raising his eyes to glare at Keith and Lance.

"You're Haggar's puppet." Keith continued.

"I guess so." Shiro frowned. He remembered EVERYTHING that he did, he had been in control the entire time. But he wasn't going to tell THEM that.

Keith pounded his fist against the glass in fury, causing both Lance and Shiro to jump. "You idiot! Did you have any idea that Haggar was manipulating you?!"

"I guessed. But no, not until recently."

"You coulda killed Pidge!" Lance broke in, glaring at him.

"I'm not entirely sure he didn't." Keith rolled his eyes, feeling queasy as he remembered the blood that had flooded from Pidge's stomach.

Lance nodded stubbornly before turning back to Shiro. "I don't think that you're OUR Shiro."

"You're right about that." Shiro grunted. "I'm part of something called Operation Kuron."

"Clone." Keith glared. Shiro-the real Shiro-had taught him well. "Kuron is Japanese for clone."

Shiro nodded. "Yeah. So, I guess, you should call me Kuron."

Keith glared at Kuron, crossing his arms. "Well, then. Do you know where OUR Shiro is?"

"Only that the Black Lion teleported him somewhere safe." Kuron admitted. "Other then that…I don't know."

"Why did the Black Lion teleport him away?" Keith demanded, pounded the glass again.

"I don't know." Kuron shrugged, glancing at his hands. "I think it was so you could get a promotion or something. I don't know everything."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Lance smirked. The kind boy was acting unusually angry, furious. Because of what Kuron had done to Pidge. The Paladins had fallen under the routine of always having someone stand near Pidge, like a bodyguard. It was usually Hunk or real Shiro, the only ones who really understood her. So now that they had failed to protect her…

"Hey, can I pull this out of my shoulder? You know…without bleeding to death." Kuron gestured to Keith's knife. "Wait, does it even matter if I die or not?"

"Do whatever you like, man." Keith scowled. "We'll wait until Pidge wakes up to decide what in King Groggery the Infirm's name to do with you."

"Geez. How many Alien phrases do you know?" Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A lot, actually." Their attention drifted off of Kuron for a moment as Keith responded. "Kolivan and Mom have taught me well."

"Oh. I still can't believe I flirted with your Mom! How old IS she?"

Keith shrugged helplessly before turning his attention back to Kuron. "Listen. I don't care what you do to yourself. If you die or live. I just don't want to be here when you decide to escape." He snapped.

Kuron flinched before nodding. "Yeah. Okay. Deal. You won't be here when I escape."

"Hey, wait a moment!" Lance gasped. "This entire time you were dropping hints left and right that you were a clone."

"And you still managed not to realize until now." Kuron sighed.

"Lance, let's go." Keith coldly grasped the younger Paladin's wrist and pulled him out of the room, leaving Kuron to stare after them.

"Gosh." Lance sighed, leaning his head against the elevator door. "Gosh." He repeated. "Gosh. That guy's insane."

"Yeah."

"You know ten minutes ago when we were talking about Kuron and you mentioned is being scared because you were going to fly into some shields?"

"Yeah?"

"What was going to be your point? And WHEN did that happen?"

"Lance…"

"I need to know, Keith. Tell me."

"My point was I'm sorry for any hardships I may or may not have caused you. I didn't realize you didn't even know what I did went unnoticed by you guys."

"Yeah…but…when did this happen?"

"The battle for Nagzela." Keith sighed, and the elevator doors opened at the fifth floor. "It was…look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mention it if you didn't know."

"Keith, we're family. We're basically each other's least favorite brother. We have to know what's going on in each other's lives."

"No, we don't."

"Listen. We're like one, big happy family. Families are always there for each other. We've got the Dad, Shiro, the grumpy teenager, you, the Space mother, Krolia, the two obnoxious sisters, Allura and Pidge, and insane the brothers. Hunk and I. See? We're related."

"Where do Coran and Lotor fit in?"

"Oh, you mean the crazy uncle and the oldest sister's betrothed?"

"Wait, Allura and Lotor…betrothed?!"

"Might as well be. They're seriously serious with each other. I'm fairly certain they kissed in Oriande."

"What's Oriande?!"

"Geez! Where've you been all this time?"

"The Blade of Marmora."

"Rhetorical question, Zu Lee! You gotta keep up!"

"What?"

"Uh…never mind. You wouldn't get it. Probably."

Keith snorted and waved his hand, opening the doors to the infirmary.

To his joy, he could see Pidge safely resting in a healing pod, Krolia, Hunk, and Allura hovering nearby.

"Hey, girls and Hunk! How's Pidge?" Lance asked, resting one hand on Pidge's pod.

"She's doing fine." Allura told them, glancing up at them. "It may take her a day or two to fully recover and…wait, someone should tell Coran and Lotor what happened."

"Everyone, please report to the infirmary." It still amazed Keith how the castle could pick up his words and carry them to whoever he was thinking of.

Within moments the two other males were there, glancing around the room. Lotor was the first to spot Pidge and frowned. "Why is the child in a pod? Why was I not informed?"

Coran stared in surprise, fiddling with his mustache. "Well, I'll be a Waggler's horn. Princess, what happened?"

Allura sighed, her eyebrows knitting together before she hopped in on the tale.

 **Author's note; Thank you to Ultimate-Hunter-Guyver for the chaprer idea!**

 **Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

March 24th, 2018, Saturday

* * *

Five days ago;

Pidge heard a sound, a low rumble that woke her from her slumber.

Exhausted, she raised her head, blinking. Her eyes dug through the darkness until they found the door. She stood, rubbing her eyes.

The soft growl came again, and this time she recognized it. "Paladin," it cooed. Green. "He must speak with you. Please come. Quickly. The window is closing."

Pidge obeyed her lion, quickly pulling on her everyday clothes. Ever since she had gotten her family back, she had grown accustomed to actually sleeping in bed. She now wore her jumpsuit when she slept, in case she had to get up in a hurry. She never again was plagued by the fear of losing her family, never again. There was only one thing that stilled weighed against her mind.

She shook off her thoughts and slipped down the halls, her feet ringing quietly against the metal floor.

"Hurry!" Green pleaded, and her Paladin broke into a jog, her feet almost hitting the wall several times before her eyes grew accustomed to the dark.

She entered the hanger, finding her lion with her shield up, her tail turning nervously, rippling I'm the air.

She crouched when Pidge entered, the force field vaporizing into thin air. The only source of light came for the lion's eyes now.

"So…what's this about?" Pidge asked, stopping in her walk to cross her arms.

Green opened her mouth, and repeated "hurry!"

"Hmph." Pidge snorted, but entered her lion.

Instantly the mouth snapped shut. Pidge stumbled in surprise into her lion's cockpit. The Green Lion growled, and she felt her legs go weak.

Pidge tried to reach for the pilot chair, but collapsed.

She fell for much longer then she thought, at least ten meters, landing on something soft. She was aware that the green light in her lion's cockpit wasn't there anymore. She couldn't feel her lion's presence either.

So she rolled away from whatever was holding her and fell another five feet onto something hard.

She blinked her eyes open, looking up. Wait, wait. What was Shiro doing here? Did his lion summon him too?

His arm were out in front of him, and Pidge figured that he had caught her before she rolled away. Which, given by how he had been acting lately, had been the best option she could have made.

She prepared herself for a scolding as she raised to her full height, taking in her surroundings. Stars and clouds were everywhere. She stood on invisible ground, stars beneath her feet.

Silence.

Uhh…okay then.

"So. Umm…can you hear me?" Pidge asked, making sure not to make direct eye contact. She had learned recently that Shiro hated that. She wondered if he was scolding her, but she couldn't hear him.

Shiro nodded slowly, blinking wearily at her. "Yeah. I can. Can you hear me?" His voice wasn't cold, like she had expected, but curious. Soothing.

"That is an affirmative." Pidge responded, focusing on his chin.

"I don't…did the Black Lion bring you here?"

"Uh…no. Green brought me here."

"But YOUR lion's mind zone is up there." Shiro gesture with his pointer finger, a green star beyond his finger tip. "Honestly, I didn't expect to see anyone but Keith here." His voice was calm, calculating. Uhh…weird.

Pidge raised her eyes to his hair, studying him. He had an undercut. And his white locks were longer then normal…

"Quiznak." Her eyes darted to his. His eye lashes were thin. Really thin. "You really ARE Shiro, aren't you?"

"What? I don't know what you mean by that but…yeah. At least I think so."

Pidge sat down again, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Oh, Quiznak." She mumbled.

"Pidge…are you okay?" Shiro asked, taking a few steps towards her.

Pidge laughed dryly, shaking her head. "Just stunned, I guess. And what did you mean by mind zone?"

"Uh…each line had a different mind setting that they created. I don't know what the other four-five look like, but I know that each Lion created their own zone. Up until recently there was two blues and two red ones. Then one of each disappeared and a new star appeared. It's pink." Shiro pointed eighty-five degrees to the left and pointed to a tiny star. "Do you know why it's there?"

"Allura." Pidge whispered.

Shiro turned, one eyebrow raised for a moment before nodding. "Right. I remember seeing you all while all the mind zones connected. Wait…where was Keith in that whole scenario?"

"That was you?" Pidge ignored his question, adding her own inquiry. She remembered the energy the Paladins had given the lions while in Voltron's mind, and she inhaled as she waited for his response.

"Yeah. Who else would it be?"

"I…uh…never mind. Nobody. But you. It's just been a while, and-"

Shiro's arms timidly wrapped around her, comforting her greatly.

"I'm here now." He cooed.

A few moments passed before he continued. "How's the search for your family?"

He missed so much… Pidge reflected. She would LOVE to tell him everything, but she was scared of telling him that she found both of them without his help.

"It's going fine. I'll give you the details another time." Pidge grinned sheepishly, returning his embrace. "Now, how about you describe the planet you're on in full detail, so I can come get you?"

* * *

Two days ago;

"Shiro, may I speak with you?" The word Shiro felt bitter on Pidge's tongue now that she realized that the name did not belong to him.

He rolled his eyes in exasperation and fell back a few steps, frowning.

"Remember when I went into that coma?" She asked, uncertainty lining her words.

"Yes." Shiro grumbled, meeting Keith's eyes for a split second before the latter ripped his gaze away and quickened his step match Lance's and Allura's.

"Well…I had a vision."

"Good for you."

"A VISION Shiro, that isn't something to just push away."

"Listen, Pidge. I don't have all day. Just get to the point." Shiro glared.

Pidge noticed out of the corner of her eye Keith glance at her.

"Well, I think I saw Shiro."

Shiro stumbled, or, more of, tripped over his feet. But he straightened his shoulders again, almost like nothing happened. "I AM Shiro." He frowned, disbelief dancing across his face.

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am!" Shiro growled, and for the first time Pidge noticed how tall he was in comparison.

Pidge, frustrated, leaned toward him angrily. "No, you're a stupid clone!" She wondered how they were still walking. She also wondered if she should zap him with her Bayard and get away with it…

"Pidge," Shiro's voice quieted, but his gaze was still hard. "You're young, not to mention naïve. And you still don't understand the world. I understand, however, what Haggar can or cannot do. And she CANNOT clone. M'kay?"

"What about when you were fighting her way back when?"

"She can clone HERSELF. Not others."

Idiot.

"Yeah? What about her transforming herself into you?"

"Pidge. She's Altean. She can shapeshift. So what?"

"But-"

"No buts. Just, stop it, okay?" The way Shiro massaged his forehead almost made Pidge feel sorry for him. Almost.

The entire group had stopped, the other three watching them. Pidge shrugged at them, biting her lip and rolling her eyes. She glanced back at Shiro as he continued.

"Okay. Then it's settled." Shiro hummed, beginning to turn again when he received silence from Pidge.

"You know, you're only convincing me more that you're a clone, you know."

"Pidge!" Shiro snapped, whipping around to face her again.

"You're a Kuron! I know it, and denying it just strengthens my theory." Pidge glared.

"Pidge, stop this!"

"Why do you keep saying my name like that?"

"Pidge!"

"Kuron!"

"Stop it!" Before Pidge could blink, his human hand was wrapped around her throat. After she blinked, pain flared through her stomach.

And she knew. Kuron's hand was imbedded in her stomach. And she hated every fake fiber of his being for it.

* * *

Today;

Pidge opened her eyes, finding herself staring down at her feet. She lifted her head wearily and found herself looking at her friend's tired faces, except more…blue. Where was she? What happened? Why couldn't she move very much? Who-

The barrier in front of her dissolved, and she collapsed into Lotor's arms. "Mm…what happened?"

"Shiro attacked you." Lance explained.

"You idiots STILL think that that…that…THING is Shiro? The real Shiro?" Pidge frowned, releasing Lotor. "You're so naive."

"No. We don't believe that. Not anymore." Allura gently informed Pidge. "We understand that he is a clone. A Kuron, if you will."

"Oh. And where is Kuron now?" Pidge inquired, her gaze slowly circulating the room. "And Keith and Krolia for that matter."

"I'm…I'm afraid that Keith and his mother left as soon as they were certain you were going to be all right. And Kuron…well, Keith and Krolia already told us what they thought we should do with him. And you know Keith, it's impossible to change his mind after he makes it up. It's a family trait. Anyway, we decided the rest of us could sit down, as one big family. and talk about what to do with him."

"Family…" Pidge's voice seemed to freeze over by that word, and she hesitated. "Okay. Okay." She exhaled before starting right in on blathering. "Look, Allura, I got to pick up this one thing from this one planet a few galaxies over, and can you open up a wormhole so that I can have a look around? Before we talk about the clone thing? See if my hunch is correct that it's there? Right after I have some food, of course. Healing pods always make their subjects hungry. I think. I actually don't feel that hungry right now, but-" Pidge hesitated when she caught everyone's eye. They had that look in their eye that meant that they didn't especially care.

"Of course you may, Pidge." Allura soothed her. "But first, like you said, get something to eat. And want to tell us what exactly it is?"

"You wouldn't believe me if you told you." Pidge winked, still a little unsteady on her feet, so Hunk dropped an arm around her shoulders. She sent him a thankful grin before turning back to the princess.

Allura smiled and turned, taking Lotor's arm.

Pidge's face got distant as soon as the princess turned away, her face tilted away from everyone.

"Pidge…?" Hunk hummed, placing one hand on her arm cautiously.

"Hmm?" Pidge's eyes were still blank when she turned to stare at him. "Oh. Uhh…can I head to my room and get my normal clothes on first? Before we eat."

"You have five minutes-" Lance joked.

"-or else you'll be dragged to the food." Coran finished. "We can't have you…what do Earthlings call it…geek out over 'useless' matters."

"They're not useless!" Pidge huffed, already starting for the door after somehow getting herself out of Hunk's grasp. Then, as an afterthought, added "a little uncalled for, maybe. But NOT useless."

* * *

 **So, in case you missed it, this is IT. Sorry for such a long wait. I had no idea how to make this happen. But next up; the chapter I planned thousands of times over and that I hope get right! Yay.**


	6. Chapter 6

March 26th, 2018, Monday

"Okay, Pidge. Hurry back as soon as you find…whatever you're looking for." Allura reminded the petite girl.

"Yeah. I know. Just open the wormhole, I'll contact you when I'm ready to come back." Pidge informed her, and, as soon as the coms clicked off, breathed a sigh of relief.

Her friends had been hesitant to let her go after the Kuron fiasco, but she knew exactly how to get their curiosity peeped, so she could do what she wanted.

She flew her lion through the wormhole, gapping at the beautiful forest planet before her. Shiro was somewhere on that. Waiting.

She inhaled before speaking into her coms, focusing on Shiro. Her coms read her brainwaves, somehow, and transmitted the waves around her. They could only range a certain distance, and so were unable to pick him up. Once she got close enough, she would be able to connect to his life force.

Pidge eased her Lion foreword, slightly flabbergasted by Green's excitement, her yearning to just launch foreword. No doubt about it, this WAS the real Shiro.

Pidge inhaled, her Lion's jets spending their decent before suddenly lashing out beneath them and stopped them before crashing onto the ground.

Pidge's muscles relaxed and she leaned her head onto the dash, collecting herself.

"Shiro?" She asked into the coms, her words quavering. Actually, it came out more drawn out. Like a child asking if there were monsters under their bed.

"Katie!" The voice sounded more tired then when she had last heard it, in the Black Lion's mind zone. But it held a certain excitement to it that reflected all his joy and hope at her. "I…I…I don't know what to say."

"Well…yeah. Wait…are you crying?" Pidge asked, pressing one hand to her helmet."

"A little. What about you? It sounds like your voice is breaking."

"A little." Pidge didn't tell him that she was practically sobbing. At his pointed silence, she could imagine his face at the moment, a face she had grown accustomed with after the last few months, she continued. "Yeah. I'm crying. A lot. By my sensors you're just a few hundred yards off. Wow. Lucky landing. I should be there in a few minutes."

"I saw Green land. I'm heading in your direction."

"And I'm getting out of Green." Pidge told him, feeling solid ground beneath her feet. "Wow. That's a lot of green." She stated, staring at the planets.

"Yeah. The entire time I was gone they kept reminding me of you."

"Aw, stop! You're making me blush." Pidge grinned, although it would take a whole lot more to get her to blush. But she was pleased.

Shiro chuckled and the two of them fell silent for a few minutes.

"Okay." Pidge finally broke the silence, tugging on a vine. "I'm hardly five yards into the forest and I'm up to my waist in shrubbery."

"Your lion landed in a clearing, correct?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah…"

"Can you retrace your steps?"

"Done. What now?"

"I'll catch up with you. I'm better at navigating the forest." Shiro pointed out. "According to my helmet, I'm almost to you."

"Uh." Pidge exchanged the weight from one foot to the other. "But I'm the Guardian of the Forest. I should-"

"-have practiced your forest navigation maneuvers." Shiro interrupted.

Pidge flinched at his words, remembering Kuron. "You almost sound like-"

"Like…?"

"Uh, scratch that." Pidge shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"A lot of things 'don't matter' anymore, Pidge." Shiro's voice was quite, but Pidge heard every strained word that he uttered.

Pidge's lips tugged into a frown, and she remained quiet.

When the forest underbrush parted to reveal her friend, scars covering his neck, parts of his suit torn open. Recently healed wounds adorned his legs, while blisters resided on his arms. His hair was longer then the astral plane had made it out to be, and one of his arms was wrapped around his stomach.

"Shiro!" Pidge tugged off her helmet, not willing to hear his voice through the radio, but from his own lips. He did the same, and both ran towards each other.

Pidge's mind didn't register that he was limping, or that he was moving slower then herself, all she knew was that there they were, arms clasped around each other, both sobbing uncontrollably.

Both Paladins were not willing to let go, for fear that the other would slip from their grasp, disappear again.

Pidge was the first to pull away, but not because Shiro was chocking her, but for another reason.

She had noted that her hand was wet. And sticky. She withdrew it to see what in the world was on it, and instantly froze. It was red. With blood. But it wasn't her blood. It was Shiro's.

Pidge stumbled away from him, before holding out her hand. "Takashi, what-!"

Shiro hesitated, before gently wiping off her hand. He sighed and turned so that she could see his back. There was literally a gapping hole in his bad, claw marks everywhere. Half the armor had been torn away, revealing battered skin. He only let her see part of it, and for that she was grateful. She nearly barfed from only seeing a quarter of the wound.

"We…let's get you to a pod." Pidge didn't dare mention that getting into a pod may be restricted when they got there.

Shiro must have worn himself out by just getting to her, because, the next step he took, he nearly fell flat onto the ground. Luckily Pidge was there to help upright him.

"Okay. It's settled." She hissed through clenched teeth. "Lean on me, try not to walk to much."

Shiro hardly protested. He leaned on her as she wrapped on arm around his waist and used her right arm to clutch his robotic limb. He let out a sound somewhere between a gasp of pain or a sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Pidge asked, feeling the blood wash over her arm. But she didn't care. Shiro was here.

"I'll be better when I'm in the castle." Shiro hissed.

"Of course. Green, will you please hold still?!"

The Green Lion was encircling them, knocking over tress and other plants as she studied them, once a while prodding then with her nose.

"Seriously. You're not helping." Pidge glared at the Green Lion, and Shiro laughed.

"Don't be hard on her, Katie. She's just excited."

Pidge smiled as the Green Lion padded over, opening her mouth. Her eyes gleamed yellow, a loud purr arising from her throat, engine thingy.

"Sorry. I just want you to be okay."

"I can hold on as long as you need me too, Katie." They almost always used each other's real name when they were alone, it was like a little secret between the two of them.

"I know." Pidge whispered, setting him down on one of the benches in the back.

She tugged her helmet back on and spoke into the coms. "Hey, Allura." The wormhole wasn't visibly open, but, there still was a small connection between the two areas, making communication easier.

"Yes, Pidge?"

"I'm ready to come back."

"Understood. That took a shorter amount of time then I thought."

"Yeah, me too. Can you have Coran whip up another pod?" Pidge asked, leaning forward as her shoulders bunched to her sides.

"Of…of course. See you soon. Do you want us to meet you in the hanger?"

"That'd be best. See you later, Allura."

"See you soon, Pidge."

The coms clicked off, and Pidge turned to look at Shiro, who still sat where she had left him, an amused gleam in his eye.

"Didn't tell them, yet?" He inquired, arranging himself in his seat.

"Not yet. I still don't think they'll understand. They probably will freak out when they see you. I just told them that I wanted to get "something" from this planet, so the suspense is killing them."

"Ah. Can't imagine what's going on there." Shiro grinned. "Did Keith take the reigns when I disappeared?"

"Sorta…he doesn't have them anymore."

"What does that mean?" Shiro asked, beginning to look worried.

"Don't worry. Last I heard he was still alive."

"Last you HEARD? Pidge, you're getting confusing. Where IS he?"

"You'll find out later." Pidge sighed, turning her back on him. "Next stop, Castle of Lions."

The wormhole sparked to life in front of them, and the Green Lion entered, coming out of the other side within moments.

The castle loomed in front of them as Pidge carefully guided the Green Lion into the hanger. Now that she thought about it…she was tired. Really tired. The coma had not been very rest giving, since she had been using all her quintessence to stay in the astral plane, and after that she had been busy searching planets with Shiro's definition of the planet he had been on. And the Cryo pod doesn't actually give people rest, just heals them. And she left as soon as she could after that to find Shiro.

So she hadn't gotten very much sleep, if any, in five days. And supporting most of Shiro's weight didn't help much either…

The thud of the Green Lion's paws striking the ground of the hanger jerked Pidge back to reality. Right.

She had to get Shiro out of the lion.

Make sure he made it into a pod.

Get the others to accept him.

Then rest.

Pidge turned towards Shiro, helping him to his feet. He looked exhausted, too. His face drawn into lines of worry.

Pidge guided him down the steps on the Lion towards.

Allura and Lance met them immediately, the former raising an eyebrow.

"Get him into a pod." Pidge ordered, noting how strange it felt to give orders rather then take them.

"Uh." Allura nodded, supporting Shiro as she took him off Pidge's hands. "Shiro. Good to have you back?"

Shiro offered her a sad smile, probably realizing that she had meant it as a question, and that it wasn't a statement.

Lance leaned towards Pidge, clapping her gently on the back. "You look exhausted. I'll make sure everyone treats him properly until you wake up, okay?"

"Thanks, Lance. But I'll be fine for another Varga or two." Pidge lied, worried that he was just trying to get her to sleep, and "properly" meant being thrown in a cell.

Lance nodded and caught up with Allura, taking Shiro's other side.

Hunk and Coran entered the room as they passed. Immediately the two pivoted and followed the other three out, confused as to why they had Shiro out of his cell.

She dragged her feet with every step, heaving as she trailed after the other five.

When she reached the infirmary, Shiro was already in a pod. Pidge heaved a sigh of relief when she saw him, making mental notes.

She had to get Shiro out of the lion. Done.

Make sure he made it into a pod. Done.

Pidge smiled to herself, exhausted finally wrapping itself around her as her legs buckled and the world faded into black.


	7. Chapter 7

March 29th, 2018, Thursday

Pidge awoke with a start, looking around. Memories of her dream echoed around her, and she wrapped one arm around her stomach blearily. A flash of yellow eyes flashed through her mind, and she used her free hand to clutch her head. Wait a moment…where was she?

Pidge glanced around her, and the first thing she noticed was the blue blanket encircling her. It ended at the bottom of her neck and her feet, cushioning everything.

In a start, Pidge realized all her limbs were stiff. She adjusted her position, noticing through the soft blanket, she was leaning on something hard.

She blinked, the sudden light blinding her. How has she not observed them from the start? She groaned, letting her body go slack as she tried to piece everything together.

"Pidge?" Allura's voice broke through her thoughts as the older women kneeled beside her. "Good morning."

"What time…?"

"A varga past the night cycle." Allura told her.

"Okay. Where am I?"

"In the infirmary. Lance insisted that you would want to stick by Shiro's side as he healed."

Pidge twisted her head to look behind her, and, upon seeing her friend in the Cryo-pod, peacefully floating, she relaxed. "That was very kind of Lance."

Allura nodded and turned to monitor him. "He should be out in another quintent."

"What caused his injuries?"

"At night, the forests are crawling with predators." Allura shrugged. "We don't know this for sure, but he may have provoked one." Allura warned.

"Okay." Pidge nodded, snuggling into the blanket.

"Now that you're awake, we can discuss what to do with Shiro." Without waiting for a response, Allura spoke to the Paladins through the coms. "Paladins, report to the infirmary. Pidge is awake."

Hunk and Lance arrived in a matter of minutes, Hunk balancing a bowl of food goo I'm one hand, and a piece of tech that he probably was fiddling with. Lance, meanwhile, had a comb in one hand, and the other was empty.

"You're awake, Pidgy!" Lance cried, dropping his utility and throwing his arm around her neck.

"Don't call me that." Pidge grumped, managing to return his embrace with one arm.

Hunk picked both of them up with surprising ease, squeezing them tightly. "Aw, Pidge. That was really scary. Don't EVER faint in front of us like that ever again! I cried!"

"I can vouch for him." Lance sighed. "It was a little annoying. Hunk, can you PLEASE let go? Pidge looks like she may pass out again."

Pidge grunted, relieved when Hunk's death grip finally slackened. "Sorry." He apologized. "So. Uh…"

"We must discuss what to do about Shiro. THAT Shiro." Allura gestured to the man in the Cryo pod. "Then we'll decide what to do with Kurom."

"That Shiro is real. I'm SURE of it." Pidge spat, pointing at the healing Paladin.

"Might I ask how you 'discovered' him? How you knew he was on that planet?"

"Well…" Pidge hesitated, biting he bottom lip. "The Green Lion sent me into the Black Lion's mind zone, and-"

"The mind zones?" Allura interrupted, one hand on her mouth. "That's…only my father and Zarkon could enter them ten thousand years ago."

"Huh. Well, now Shiro can too, evidently." Pidge snorted. "And all of us did during that planet monster's attack on Olkarion."

"But…that was a FORCED connection with Voltron, to repair it! It simply does not count." Allura protested, crossing her arms.

"Continue, Pidge." Lance had begun to take charge since the Kuron incident, and it was showing.

"So, basically, the Green Lion managed to send me to the black mind zone, where I met Shiro. He gave me a very detailed definition of the planet he was on, so I could find him. All this happened during my coma. Later, I told Kuron that he was a clone, and he attacked me. The Lions had to combine their quintessence just to keep me alive…" Pidge stopped for a moment, her shoulders hunched.

"You nearly died?!" Hunk shook her by her shoulders, crying. "You…you nearly died…?"

"I knew you lost too much blood…" Lance hissed.

"ALL the lions had to combine their power?" Allura asked. "How hurt were you?"

"Yes, I nearly died due to lack of blood. Yes, but the Green and Black lion sparred some of their quintessence to send me to the mind zone again…and after that I decided to go find Shiro and…you know the rest. Thank you SO much, Lance, for letting me stay here. After all, I am positive that he's the real deal."

Lance nodded and rested one hand on her head. He wasn't teasing her at her size, like he usually did when he rested on her noggin. Instead he was playing a card from Shiro's deck. Trying to be the comforting leader in Shiro's absence. Or, rather, in Shiro's unconsciousness.

Pidge snorted at Lance's gesture, but didn't make any move to get him off of her.

"I'm with Pidge." Lance admitted. "If she's telling the truth, and I'm pretty sure she is, 'cause I don't think she's ever lied, except for the gender thing, then this guy has a deep connection with the Black Lion, unlike Kuron."

"Thank you, Lance." Pidge sighed, glad that he was on her side.

"If I'm being honest, I don't know what to think about this Shiro. I suppose we'll give him a try." Allura frowned, massaging her forehead.

Now Pidge and Lance turned to face Hunk.

"I wasn't there when Kuron attacked you, Pidge. But I've watched the video feed dozens, made a hundred, time. And…it really freaked me out how unmoving the whole thing was. Kuron was like a brick wall. Each time was worse then the last! But he was so caring BEFORE he disappeared, just like a space daddy, but still…" Hunk sighed, fiddling with his headband. "…I just don't know! Whatever you guys decide I'll be fine with…so…"

"Okay. So we'll give him a go." Lance concluded, looking over at the Cryo pod again.

"I have something to tell you guys…" Pidge began, inhaling. "I never told Shiro all the news that happened while he was gone. Do he doesn't know about Keith's mom, Keith leaving, me finding my family, the clone fiasco, or that we never actually defeated Zarkon, and I certainly didn't mention Lotor, much less that he was really the one to kill Zarkon, so…"

"He doesn't know what has been going on lately." Allura finished. "Hm…you really should have soared more details. At least telling him about your family. Or the clone."

"If I told him about my family, he would have practically BEGGED me to tell him everything. And the clone…he'd feel so guilty for having a fake wandering in our midst, that he'd freak out."

"You really ARE sure he's our beloved Space Dad, aren't you?" Hunk's eyebrows softened as he gave a sad smile.

"Really sure." Pidge and Lance nodded at the same time.

With that, the meeting ended.

* * *

Pidge was awake, typing on her computer fifteen Vargas later, when the pod opened up.

Pidge instinctively rolled to her feet, and, seeing that Shiro was about to be released, held out her arms to catch him.

He was in them within ticks, groaning as he came to.

Pidge relaxed as he felt his cool arms on hers, his eyes raising to hers. He pushed up, looking around him quizzically. "This is…" he finally looked down at Pidge, his gaze warming. "We're in the castle…aren't we?"

Pidge felt like crying, hugging him. "You just came out of a pod. A few hours early, in fact. You weren't supposed to wake up for another six Vargas, actually."

"Ah. That explains why I feel dizzy." Shiro nodded. "What time is it?"

"About two in the morning."

"You should be asleep." Shiro deadpanned.

"I suppose." Pidge admitted. "But I HAD to be here for you. You would've ended up on the floor if I hadn't caught you."

Shiro smiled softly, his prosthetic arm tucking one lock of hair behind Pidge ear. "You're right." He stopped for a moment before his eyes clouded with worry. "I saw you collapse before the pod sucked me under. What happened."

"Over exhaustion." Pidge explained, before peering up at him. "But I'm fully rested now." She assured him, hugging him more tightly. "I can't believe you're finally here, finally SAFE."

Shiro laughed dryly, a humorless laugh, that was more like an exhale of relief. "It's good to be back. And now I know you're safe, too. You had me worried."

"You hungry?" Pidge turned the subject off being safe, she had already nearly been killed once, recently, and witnessed Shiro almost dying.

"Yeah. I could go for anything. Even food goo."

It had been an ongoing joke between all the Paladins that food goo was disgusting, a joke that Kuron disapproved of. So for a time, the Paladins had forgotten it had existed. But now that Shiro was bringing it up…

"Don't worry." Pidge grinned. "I'm pretty sure we have leftovers spaghetti. From dinner. No food goo."

"Oh, thank the lord." Shiro shook his head, a fond smile plastered on his face.

Pidge laughed, leading him to the kitchen. "Think we should wake up the others? They were pretty worried, too."

"Let them sleep." Shiro waved a hand dismissively. "I'm sure they need it…"

Pidge heard the last words of his unfinished statement, and whispered them in her mind. '…just like you.' Pidge snorted and showed him to the kitchen, gesturing to his, er…Kuron's usual seat.

"Hold on for a sec, I'll get you some spaghetti."

She was only gone for a moment, and when she returned, she witnessed Shiro staring at the ceiling, his entire body slack. The only signs of life was the rise and fall of his chest, his gaze distant. His eyes would shift every tick, as if he wasn't sure he was safe.

Pidge set the plate in front of him, and he turned his attention to her, his metal hand twitching.

"Thanks, Pidge." He sighed, but didn't make a move to eat his food.

"You okay?" Pidge asked. "I can get Allura. Or Coran. They're usually up at this time."

Shiro shrugged in response, still searching the ceiling. During the night cycle, every light was off, so if made it hard to see anything. "Tell me everything that happened." Shiro finally asked, turning slightly to study her.

"Well…" Pidge paused for a moment, then launched in. "For the first month since our battle with Zarkon, we preceded with caution. Keith spent every second of the day looking for you, and I spent half my time searching for Matt, the other half for you. But I'll admit-" Pidge hesitated as she hung her head in shame, "-I eventually gave up on finding you. Spent all of my time searching for my family."

"I understand." Shiro shrugged, watching her curiously. "I'd be very concerned if you didn't spend every second you could searching for your brother and father."

Pidge smiled, relieved. "I guess you're right."

An awkward silence followed, the only sound was the faint tapping of Shiro's finger. "I'm thankful that you're here, Pidge." He finally admitted, his human hand resting on top of her fingers. "I missed you, Katie."

Pidge smiled sadly at him, squeezing his hand. "I missed you, too. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think of you. Don't go anywhere ever again!" Pidge begged, fighting back tears. What was with her? They were supposed to be happy, and she was on the brink of exploding into sobs.

"You know I can't promise that, Pidge." Shiro sighed, his metal hand rubbing his forehead. "I didn't want to leave originally, it was Black's decision."

"I know." Pidge groaned, leaning on her free hand. "I just wish there was a way to guarantee that you'd always be here."

"Agreed." Shiro exhaled, his white lock covering one eye. There was a moment of silence before he continued. "Do you have some scissors? This hair has been bothering me for a while."

"I think there is some in your dorm." Pidge began, beginning to stand up to proceed on her errand.

"I can get them Pidge." Shiro pulled her back into her seat before standing up himself.

"You sure? You're still weak after coming out of the pod."

"I'm sure Pidge."

"I can be there and back before-"

"Do you have something against me going?" Shiro spat, immediately taking back his words. He hadn't meant to speak so harshly…

At his words, Pidge's arm wrapped around her stomach, and she shrugged. "Sorry. You can go."

Shiro hesitated for a moment more before leaving.

Upon entering his room, he found everything slightly haywire, an obvious sign that some Paladin, his bet was on Coran, the guy had no respect for other's privacy, had been through it. His Bayard was laying to the side, his mattress was crooked and there was a picture of all the Paladins. Come to think of it…

Shiro picked up the picture, one part of it catching his attention.

They all were in Paladin armor, lined up. Allura, Lance, Keith, himself, Pidge, and Hunk from left to right. They weren't smiling. In fact they all looked slightly uncomfortable. And finally…that Shiro wasn't him.

Shiro nearly dropped the picture, inhaling sharply.

And wait…since when did Allura wear PINK Paladin armor?!


	8. Chapter 8

March 31st, 2018, Saturday

"Okay. So what is this?" Shiro held out the picture to the other Paladins, who shrunk back guiltily.

When they had all come into the dining room for breakfast earlier that morning, they had been shocked to find Shiro already awake. Allura had soon discovered figured out that Pidge had been up all night, thus sending her to her room.

And now Shiro decided that it would be best to ask them his questions as a group.

"Where'd you get that?" Allura finally asked, pushing herself up from the table.

"My room." Shiro arched an eyebrow at them. "Mind explaining?"

Lance sighed in response, scratching his ear. "We really didn't want you to find out so soon." He admitted. "But you're our leader. I suppose we shouldn't hide things like this from you." Maturity. A attribute that Shiro never imagined that Lance would have. "About a month and a half after your disappearance, another Shiro-"

"-henceforth known as Kuron-" Hunk added.

"-showed up on our doorstep." Lance continued, his gaze calm.

"He was half dead." Coran interrupted Lance.

"From under nourishment." Lance sighed, looking slightly frustrated now. "He claimed that he had just escaped from Galra captivity again, and so we mainly left him alone."

"We, of course, thought that he needed space, and, as of his sudden temper, we figured it was just because he went through a lot." Allura hung her head.

"There were too many slip ups." Lance proceeded, rubbing his temple. "Too many misdeeds. Finally, he crossed the line, and we realized that he was a clone, controlled by-"

"-the witch Haggar." A voice sounded from the doorway, attracting everyone's attention.

Shiro jumped, but nobody noticed. They were focusing on Lotor.

"Lotor! The meeting's done already?" Allura asked, standing by his side as quickly as possible.

"Yes." Lotor smiled fondly at her. "The Generals insisted that it would be more efficient of me to be at the Zragon Base when I initiated orders."

"But you've only been here for two weeks!" Allura groaned, staring up at him.

Shiro turned to Lance, his eyebrows knit together. Why was Allura acting so…flirtatious with that monster?!

Lance mouthed to him, as if he could read his mind, 'I'll explain later.'

Shiro nodded, trying to ignore the fury that pulsed in his chest whenever he even THOUGHT about Lotor.

"Indeed, but unfortunately, I have to depart for now, Princess Allura." Lotor crooned, smiling at her before raising his eyes to the rest of the Paladins. "Farewell, Paladins. Until we meet again." He turned to go, but Allura stopped him.

"I shall accompany you to your ship." She insisted, reaching out to clutch his hand.

"Ah, thank you, Princess." Lotor's stiff posture relaxed, and he accepted her outstretched as they slipped away.

The sound of retreating footsteps lingered for a moment, then was gone.

"Okay, what was that?" Shiro inquiried, whipping his head towards the others.

"That was Emperor Lotor, he took charge after Zarkon died." Lance explained.

"I know who he is-although the emperor thing is new to me-and I know that he's a skilled sword fighter who can defeat any of his opponents in battle." Shiro flexed his metal limb. "I just need to know why Allura and him were…whatever it's called. And why he's on the castle. So why IS he on the castle?!"

"So," Lance began, obviously skipping several details, "after he helped us defeat a third of Galra forces, we decided to let him out of a cell, Allura and him went on a magical quest, and they probably kissed there, and when they came back, BAM! A healthy romantic relationship."

Shiro grunted in response, using one hand as a face rest. "Great. So what exactly did Kuron do to cross the line?" He brought up the question from earlier, giving himself time to think.

Silence.

Shiro glanced up from his hand, and found the other three males staring at him. They had mixed looks in their faces, concern, fear, and was that…pity?

"Guys." Shiro sighed. "I'm an adult. I can handle it."

No response.

"Guys?"

"Look." Lance finally sighed, letting his hands thump down on the table. "It's not that we think you can't handle it or whatever, it's that WE can't handle explaining it. I have an idea, though."

Lance somehow summoned a screen in front of his spot, pressing a few buttons.

Another screen projected itself in from of Shiro. A recorded camera. He pushed 'play', and the sound that filtered out was quite, as if it were telling a secret.

Shiro didn't listen, he just watched. He watched as Pidge whispered something to Kuron, and the two fell back a few steps.

He ignored the other three, staying focused on the Pidge and Kuron. Kuron's face hardly changed, just kept the same hard glare. Pidge's face changed a lot, but mostly portrayed annoyance.

Finally Kuron 'crossed the line'.

Shiro hadn't even seen it coming.

In less time then it takes to say 'Quiznak', Kuron's Galran fist was imbedded in Pidge's stomach, his human hand wrapped around the child's throat.

Shiro finally had to turn away, finding that Coran had retreated sometime in all of this, and that left only Hunk and Lance.

"She must hate me now." Shiro groaned, ignoring the recorded screams of anger that arose from the screen.

"Surprisingly, she doesn't." Hunk deadpanned.

"She's not mad at you, she's just terrified of the clone. But don't worry, he's nothing like you. I least I think that." Lance shrugged, a toothy smile plastered on his face.

"Neither of you are helping." Shiro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's why she's been so protective around me lately."

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Lance asked, hastily changing the subject.

"Not exactly." Shiro frowned, letting his head rest on the back of the chair. "Wait. Yeah. Where the ruggle is Keith?"

"Ooh…" Lance trailed off, his eyebrows knitting together. "I'm gonna kill Pidge for leaving you in the dark on this subject."

"From what I just saw, that's already been attempted." Shiro coldly joked, hoping they wouldn't just stare at his lame joke.

Hunk grinned as the joke set in, then disappeared as it fully set in.

Then there was Lance. "Definitely #yesourspacedad."

"Why'd you say hashtag in the middle of your-…?" Shiro stopped when he saw their faces, shaking his head. "Never mind. So. Keith?"

"Oh, a while back-"

"-if we were in a TV show, like, two seasons ago-" Hunk acknowledged.

"-thank you, Hunk-"

"No problem!"

Lance sighed deeply before continuing. "-Keith figured out that the Galra were somehow producing a large supply of the purest type of quintessence available…haggarium. He was working with the Blade of Marmora at the time, kinda like a part time job. Anyway, he realized that the Blades were SO close to finding out where this haggarium was coming from. He quit being the Black Paladin, and left. We've seen him several times on a communicator, but we've only spoken to him face to face two or three times since." Lance finished, clasping his hands together and offering Shiro a half-baked smile. "And that was it. His time with us is now over."

"He was in here." Shiro gestured to the screen. "So he's been around recently?"

"He left only a varga or two after that." Lance informed him, shrugging helplessly. "Believe me, we asked for him to stay longer, but he left pretty quickly. When the Koganes put their minds to something, they do it."

"They?"

"I'm gonna destroy that child." Lance hissed. "Yeah, Keith found his mother, Krolia."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Hunk nodded enthusiastically. "Lance flirted with her."

Lance grumbled something under his breath, something that Hunk heard, but Shiro didn't.

"Okay, geez. I was just messing around." Hunk blinked, turning back to Shiro. "What else do you have questions about?"

"Pidge's family." Shiro immediately decided. "How did the search come along?"

"Both of them have been found."

Shiro froze, surprised. Both? He was very surprised that Pidge hadn't told him. VERY surprised.

"She found Matt about a week after Keith left, and her father, like, right before we trusted Lotor completely." Lance explained, clasping his hands together. "What else?"

"Uh…so you mentioned earlier that Keith was temporarily the Black Paladin. Who piloted Red?"

Silence.

"Please just give we a straight answer." Shiro groaned. "Silence is NOT entertaining."

"Sorry. It's just…amazing how little Pidge told you."

"She told me NOTHING except that you all were alive." Shiro grunted.

"Oh. Sorry. I piloted Red, and Allura took Blue."

"Is that she is wearing Paladin armor in this picture?" Shiro asked, nodding towards the paper.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you all just switch colors? It's a little confusing."

"Hm." Hunk blinked. "I never thought of that. It's kinda when you're so used to something that you don't want to give it up easily, right?"

"We didn't even realize that we SHOULD change it," Lance added, a quiet smile plastered on his face. "Except we changed Bayards as well as Lions."

"Oh." Shiro looked at the picture again. "Nobody looks happy."

"It was taken right before Keith left, when we were beginning to realize his decision." Hunk sighed. "He kept on arriving late to missions or performances, so, you know. We were putting two and two together."

"Oh." Shiro nodded. "And none of you were happy about it?"

Hunk and Lance nodded in unison.

"It freaked me out!" Hunk sighed.

"I was a good right hand to Keith, in my point of view, but I just KNEW that I'd suck being a right hand to Kuron." Lance reflected.

"So, let me get this straight. My clone was a straight up jerk?" Shiro asked, rubbing his forehead.

He was answered by a group of nods, given by Hunk and Lance and Allura as she returned.

"I hope the boys have been giving you sufficient answers." She sniffed. It wasn't an offer for better ones, it wasn't even a question. It was a hard statement.

The clone fiasco had broken the team's trust in each other, Shiro could see it in their faces.

"Yes, thank you." He responded to her statement firmly, noticing her face twist slightly as she realized he said 'thank you'.

What in the world was his clone?

"Okay. So…what exactly did you do to the clone afterwards?" Shiro asked, pursing his lips.

"We put him in a cell. And that's where he'll stay until we find out what to do with him." Lance stomped the ground, indicating that the cell was on one of the lower levels.

"Keith and Krolia already suggested killing him." Allura didn't shield Shiro from the truth, she lavished answers on him without question. (Literally.) "And I find no problem with THAT myself."

"Uh. I dunno." Hunk scratched his head. "Maybe it was just his arm that mind-controlled him, we could get Pidge to-"

"NO." Shiro pounded his fist on the table, startling them. "She isn't going near HIM on any circumstances."

Lance and Hunk nodded numbly, surprised by Shiro's outburst.

"Right." Lance fake grinned, a smile masking his emotions.

"Sorry." Hunk shrugged, embarrassed.

"No, I'm sorry." Shiro apologized, feeling the discomfort that pulsed from his teammates. "That was uncalled for."

"No, no." Allura shook her head. "You're right. We shouldn't have provoked you."

Shiro but his lip, still shaking his head. "It was my fault." He insisted. "I'm not used to communicating anymore."

Everyone nodded, relieved. The way he worded it felt like it was a compromise, they shouldn't have suggested it, but he shouldn't have yelled. It evened out.

He did feel like their trusted Black Paladin, they never should have doubted Pidge or him.

"Hey!" Lance sprang to his feet excitedly. "I bet the Black Lion'll accept Shiro as its Paladin again again!"

Shiro shook his head, chuckling at all the 'again's. "Maybe. Want to go find out?"

Allura simply smiled, and Hunk nodded enthusiastically. Lance clapped his hands together Gleefully. "Yay! Let's go!"

But truthfully, Shiro was scared. Scared that he wouldn't be accepted. Scared that the Black Lion would attack him. Scared…scared in general.

His worries were for naught, however, for his lion accepted him immediately, purring.

As Shiro slipped on his helmet, he smiled to himself. Yes, everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

"High Priestess Haggar," Acxa took a step closer to the old hag, the girl's jaw set in a straight line. "we have received word that the face of the white lion has appeared. What shall we do?"

"I shall fight magic with magic." Haggar cackled, her yellow eyes shining in the dark.

"I don't understand." Acxa frowned, her face set in confusion.

"I mean that I shall extract the power from the White Lion. Acxa, I have sensed magical growth in you. You shall aid me in my task." Haggar crooned.

"I don't think I have-"

"Insolent girl! Come with me, and you shall see what I speak of."

Acxa numbly nodded her head, following the women out of Haggar's dorm.

"Ezor!" Haggar barked at the teenager as they passed the bridge. "Guide the ship as close to the White Lion as you can."

"We can't get much closer or it'll fire." Zethrid protested, her large hands closing into fists.

"That's the point! GeT CLOSE ENOUGH FOR IT TO ATTACK US!" Haggar screamed, causing all three women to flinch.

"Yes, ma'am." Ezor nodded.

"Whatever you say Haggar." Zethrid obliged.

Acxa shrugged at them helplessly and followed the witch into the engine room, where Haggar immediately placed her hands on a large box.

"Acxa." She glared, pointing. "Press your hands here and here. Focus on absorbing any magic or energy that comes into the box."

"Isn't this the shield generator?" Acxa asked, pressing her hands against it.

"Yes. Your weak companions have already put up the shield, as I predicted. Whenever we're hit by a blast, the shield sends the energy back here, to recycle it. It powers itself this way. Sometimes, however, it's overpowered. We're here to re-channel the excess magic into our own bodies, and, when I'm strong enough, I'll lavish it onto the White Lion, thus giving it too much energy and destroying it."

"Uh. That's a simple plan, almost TOO simple. What if–?!"

"No time for words!" Haggar screeched, and, a tick later, both of their bodies were filled with energy.

After only a few moments, Acxa was blasted backwards, her entire body shaking with the force that filled her body.

"High Priestess, this is too much." Acxa groaned, rolling onto her stomach, biting back tears from the effort.

"Acxa, get over here if you value your life!" Haggar glared.

Truthfully, Acxa did not value her life. She left her mother when she was fifteen human years old, and she betrayed her prince. What more did she have to call her own? Acxa grabbed a pipe weakly, pulling herself to her feet. If she didn't go, Haggar would make her life more miserable, because, her catch phrase was 'killing is too merciful'. So Acxa went. She pressed her hands to the pipes lining the box, holding on with all her strength as another blast rocked her body, rattling her limbs.

A cry of pain escaped her lips, the no longer captivated tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Be quiet!" Haggar screeched, her hair streaking about her face. "Just one more blast, and-"

A tremor shook both of their bodies, another energy surge filling them up to the brim.

"There, now, I shall destroy that guardian." Haggar giggled, in a very evil way, of course, and led the way out of the room.

Acxa could feel every bone and muscle on her body surging with electric power, making her whole body twitch. She felt the magic coming out of every part of her, connecting with a different part of her body.

She was shaking, tears of horror still billowing from her eyes. Yet, as they poured out, the magic inside them drifted towards the top of the ship, dragging the water with them.

"Haggar," she rasped, "I don't think that this'll work."

"Doesn't matter what you think. I can do this!" Haggar glared,

Acxa was honestly impressed by how the witch held in her power, no energy bolts escaping from her. It was fascinating, really.

"Haggar." She pleaded, but the witch silenced her with a frown.

After a moment, they reached the small room that bordered the ion cannon. From the room, one could reach out and touch the electric beam as it powered up.

"Acxa." Haggar instructed, "place your hands on my shoulders, and focus your energy into my body when I tell you to." Then, into he coms, Haggar screeched to Zethrid, "fire the ion cannon!"

Almost immediately, the room filled with an ear piercing screech, and a laser stretched past them, connecting to the large beam that, when big enough, would fire on the White Lion.

Haggar reached out her hand, magic spilling from it into the laser. After a moment, Acxa felt Haggar begin to falter under her hands.

"Before I collapse, Acxa, fill me with the power!"

Acxa concentrated all her energy into the old woman's body, who pointed it out of her fingertips. Finally, the magic gone from both of their bodies, they sank to the floor.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to rest for long, because the ship was hit with another attack, stronger then before.

"Haggar…?" Ezor's tired voice came from the coms. "Shields are down. What should we do?"

"Retreat!" Haggar screeched, her hands balling into fists. "Retreat for my life!"

Acxa broke away from Haggar, stumbling to the bridge. She'd leave the woman to rant, she had a ship to pilot.

Haggar screeched threats and curses for another five minutes before she stopped, panting with beads of sweat dripping off her face.

She managed to drag herself to her dorms, where she summoned a communications link with her most trusted scientists.

"Haggar." One greeted her. "It's been a while."

Haggar briefly nodded, then spoke. "Initiate Operation Kuron Stage Five."

"But, Haggar, that's a one time use only-!"

"I don't care. It's time I eliminate the Paladins for good."

"You will only have two Vargas to do what you must, then Kuron will go offline."

"Begin Stage Five in two doboshes." Haggar hissed. "I have waited for this day for a millennia."

* * *

 **Author's Note; Thank you all of reviewing! I'm so happy you like it! If you have any questions that I have not answered already, please PM me, or review! I'll try to answer them!**


	9. Chapter 9

Shiro collapsed on one of the couches in the lounge, a frown tugging on his face. He was out of practice in his lion; he felt like he was holding his team back. They had improved since his disappearance, becoming more skilled and more familiar with the environments that surrounded them.

And he was tired. Really tired.

"Hey…Shiro?" Lance sat down across from him, his fingers twitching. "Remember when all the mind zones connected and junk? What were you trying to tell me?"

"I…I was going to tell you that I was close. That I was close to you guys. That planet I was on was only a light year away from Olkarion, and I could feel your quintessence."

"From that far?" Lance asked, drawing his legs up to his chest.

Shiro nodded. "When the Black Lion teleported me there, she told me I'd be safe. She also gave me the ability to sense everyone's quintessence from two light years away."

"Our Lions can do that?"

Shiro smiled at Lance's curiosity. "Yes. Actually, the Lions have the ability to do much more then that. They have the ability to give their Paladins the power over the elements themselves."

"Isn't that like we become gods? Isn't that opposite our beliefs?" Lance asked, slouching slightly. Strangely, all the Paladins shared the same beliefs, Christianity.

"Did the Avengers and Justice League become gods?" Shiro inquired, and Lance nodded.

"Thor."

"Oh. Right. But, besides that. They had supernatural powers, but they weren't gods." Shiro sighed. "I always thought of it like God gave the Lions their unique powers, I feel like they're angels in disguise. And they, in turn, have the ability to bless their Paladins with supernatural powers."

Lance's mouth formed an 'oh' of understanding. "Did you receive powers?"

"Me? No. I just gained better understanding of the lions while I was there." Shiro shrugged.

"Do you know EVERYTHING about the lions?" Lance eagerly questioned, practically bouncing in his chair.

Shiro laughed, realizing how much he had missed Lance's carefree attitude. "I wish. They're fascinating, but the Black Lion only let me scratch the surface. Looks like I'll have to disappear a few more times…"

"Woah!" Lance squeaked. "I think you're taking this too far! But if you do go, take me with you!"

"Lance, I was kidding!" Shiro laughed, shaking his head. "Relax."

"Oh." Lance huffed. "The clone never made jokes."

Shiro honestly hated hearing about how awful his clone was, but the Paladins seemed to use the complaints about the clone to complement him, to emphasize how much they missed him. So he let them talk.

"Really?" Shiro played along, he knew the Paladins loved talking about the fake him's faults.

"Yeah." Lance nodded, and, to Shiro's surprise and pleasure, didn't take it past that. "Anyway, tomorrow, we'll be going back to the Galra command base."

"Lotor." Shiro's eyes narrowed, wondering if the emperor remembered him like he remembered Lotor.

"Yeah." Lance nodded. "You okay? You get all tense when we mention him."

Shiro's arm flexed, and his eyes narrowed. "I'm fine." He stubbornly insisted, his hand clenching into a fist.

"You sure?"

Shiro gave in, he couldn't handle double questions anymore. He used to be able to give the same response every time, but nowadays, he felt trapped when asked multiple times. "No, I'm not fine." He admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose. "In fact, I feel awful. Lotor took my arm, and scarred me for life."

Lance, if he were a cat, would have bristled in surprise. "Ooh… I see what the conflict is."

Shiro nodded, his gaze cold. "That's a strong word. But it fits."

"I'm sure Allura will understand if you don't want to go." Lance blinked, tilting his head questionably at Shiro. "She understands and honors our feelings a lot more nowadays."

Shiro took a moment to reflect on Lance's words before speaking. "You really think so?" He hated how pathetic he sounded.

"Yeah, sure." Lance grinned. "I can talk to her, if you like."

"Thanks, Lance." Shiro didn't understand why he didn't insist on being the one to tell Allura, but he didn't.

"Anytime." Lance nodded, before slipping out.

Shiro didn't move from his seat until Pidge entered, a friendly expression plastered upon her face.

"Are you alright? You've been sitting here for at least a varga." She asked, sitting down next to him.

"Yes. I'm good." Shiro smiled weakly at her, flexing his metal arm. "I was just thinking about time. On the planet I was on, days were thirty-eight hours long, and nights were just ten vargas. But just twenty four hour cycles…it's incredible the way time differs, to say the least."

Pidge's eyes lighted up, and she nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh! It must be hard to be on a different time schedule." She sympathized, blinking at him.

"A little, but I'm working on it." Shiro shrugged, his eyes narrowing slightly. "How about you? We haven't talked since the night I woke up in the Cryo pod."

"I…" Pidge froze, her face paling slightly. "I'm fine. Just been super busy…!"

"Katie." Shiro wondered if it was wrong that he used Pidge's real name to squeeze the truth from her.

"Ooh…I'm tired, Takashi." She admitted, letting her face collapse into her hands. "It's just…now that you're found, I feel like I don't have a use anymore. Like you all can handle things without me. But I WANT to feel needed again. I just…sorry. I shouldn't be burdening you with all…this."

"It's fine, Pidge. I feel the same way. You all have improved SO much in your Lions…I feel like I'm holding you back."

"You NEVER hold us back." Pidge whispered, so quietly that Shiro almost missed it. "You boost me, at very least."

Shiro touched her hand gently, smiling down at her. "Thank you,. You still have a purpose. I STILL NEED you, Katie."

She hesitated, as if she was surprised that he heard. "Thanks." Pidge whispered, squeezing her hand.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Hunk's cheerful voice came through the coms, breaking them from their bonding moment. "Dinner's ready, everybody. Pidge, I don't care if you heard this or not. You have five minutes before I send someone after you."

Pidge rolled her eyes at Shiro, chuckling. "Hunk still does this, and it's KILLING me. I suppose I'm lucky that I actually heard his threat this time. We'd better go."

Shiro shook his head, smiling. He was a little agitated that his few brief moments with Pidge were interrupted, but no matter. "Yeah. You're right."

Pidge blinked for a moment, before nodding. "How was it possible to think the clone was you?"

"I dunno." Shiro sighed. "I didn't know him."

Pidge nodded, before giving the ground a small stamp. "You can go see him, if you like. He's-"

"No." Shiro coldly brushed off the suggestion. "Thank you for offering, but NO. I don't want to go near that thing, and I don't want you to either."

Pidge's hand wrapped protectively around her stomach, a movement she did a lot around him. "Yeah. Yeah. You're right." She tilted her face away again, but Shiro could still see the pain in her expression.

She was still scared of him…

* * *

Keith felt his fist make contact with the wall behind him, a small grunt escaping his lips. He hated how WEAK he was in comparison to the other Galra. Frail…

The word made him growl, and he punched the wall again, bruising his knuckles. Keith glared at his fist, scowling.

Due to a mistake in one of his missions, he was banned from going on any missions for a week. He actually hated Kolivan for keeping him cooped up while his mother prepared to go on a mission.

Krolia and Keith shared a dorm, due to limited space, and Krolia slept on a cot.

Keith was sitting on the bed, watching her push on her hood and don several pieces of armor.

"Keith," she glanced up at him, blinking. "Do you like the Blades? Do you want to stay?"

"I don't understand the meaning of that question." Keith sighed, rubbing his hands. "But here we go; I actually don't care. I just joined the Blade because I felt like I belonged here better then with the Paladins."

"It seemed like the Paladins need you, especially with the clone problem." Krolia pointed out, raking her claws through her mullet. "Keith, you hate it here, admit it."

Keith hesitated for a split second before nodding slowly. He wasn't able to do what he liked best, pilot, whenever he pleased. And, of course, he didn't have the freedom to go do his own thing.

"Honey, you don't belong here." Krolia sighed, twisting her rattail around her fingers. "Go, rejoin your friends. I'm sure they'll need it. PLEASE, Keith. Don't stay here."

"Mom, I…Kolivan won't understand."

"Ha! Who said anything about asking Kolivan? I'll explain everything to him once you're gone."

"Mom, that's a little…"

"We're Koganes, Keith! It's what we do."

"But-!"

"Honey. Go." Krolia smiled, pointing at the door.

"Love ya!" Keith called, out of the door in a flash. Next stop; freedom.

He was hardly five dorms away when he collided with another blade, born gasping with surprise.

"What's your problem?" The blade huffed, readjusting the hood wrapped around their neck.

"Wasn't watching where I was going. Sorry."

"Huh." It grunted, standing to go grumpily. It froze before it traveled too far. "Wait…you're that half-breed runt, right? Keith?"

Keith froze. Part of being banned was staying in the dorms… "Yes…" he grunted, blinking at the blade.

"No. Way." It gasped, extending a hand to him. "I'm Furita!"

Keith blinked at her for a moment, shock enveloping his features. Furita? Wasn't she Kolivan's daughter? "Uh. Nice to meet you…?"

"Wait…" she lowered her voice, leaning close to him. "You're banned…right? So am I. Probably for life."

"I'm leaving this quiznaking base." Keith huffed, beginning to feel awkward.

"Cool! Can you PLEASE take me with you?" Furita pleaded, bouncing slightly. "I need to leave, like, NOW!"

"How old are you?" Keith didn't want to bring anyone with him, much less a GIRL.

"Seventeen deca-phoebs." She grinned, practically dragging him at this point toward the hanger that housed his Galra fighter. "Let's GO already!"

* * *

The memories were not his own. Yet he remembered. The arm was not his own, yet he used it.

The wires sparked underneath his fingers, and he grimaced. It looked so dangerous…

'No! You must escape. The girl evaded your grasp, the men made you look like fools…' his inside voice howled, and he listened.

He bit his lip angrily, making the blood, that was not his own, trickle down his chin. He plugged a few wires together, clicking his tongue.

Why did this look so much easier when Pidge did it?

He pieced the last few wires info their proper places, and the barrier vaporized. Ah…

He groped around for a moment, finding the clutch on his arm. He pulled it off, and the familiar him greeted him, casting a purple light on his face.

Finally, he grabbed the knife and pulled it fully out of his shoulder, it would serve as an extra weapon. He tossed it in the air before grabbing it easily by the hilt.

Operation Kuron, Stage 5 was underway. The girl and the men would rue the day they crossed him.


	10. Chapter 10

April 6th, 2018, Friday

Pidge let her fingers glide over the keys of her computer, silence enveloping everything. She sighed to herself, leaning her head backwards.

The other Paladins were currently visiting with Lotor; save Shiro, who was doing who knows what elsewhere, so she was alone.

She rubbed her scalp for the third time in as many minutes, considering going to find Shiro. She wanted someone to talk to, and, although she didn't want to admit it, (like, ever,) he was the closet, most patient friend she had. Pidge sighed, collecting her equipment. She should probably head to her room and get some shut eye, she was exhausted.

Pidge stretched, letting her arms reach over her before starting for the door.

She was amazed how the castle could simply read her mind and open up doors.

Pidge wondered if she should have just brought along her computer, instead if this towering stack of tools, computer chips, Bayard, wires, a few connectors, and one gauntlet.

The lights flickered off above her, and she groaned, guessing that it was the night cycle. Was it that late? All she wanted was a simple nap…

In the dark, she tripped over her feet, dropping her building of supplies. An arm steadied her, and an exasperated voice greeted her.

"Be careful, Pidge. You could have hurt yourself. You okay?"

"Thanks, Shiro. I'm fine-." Pidge cut herself off, letting the last sound linger on her tongue for a moment more as she stared at the ground, at the arm her hands clutched. And at her hands.

Yellow. Everything was tinted yellow.

She raised her head, sucking in a breath when her eyes met cold, yellow ones.

Pidge felt her Bayard appear in her hands, teleporting from the floor. She snarled, raising her fist to strike Kuron, anger blurring her gaze.

Kuron grabbed her electric spade in his metal grip, prying the Bayard from her hands and tossing it away like a rag doll in two seconds flat.

Pidge reached our her hand to summon the Bayard again, but Kuron grabbed her hands, shoving them behind her back, making her squirm.

Pidge thought of Shiro, letting a cry arise from her mouth. She hoped that the coms still worked at night time.

Kuron grabbed her cheek bones, forcing her to face him. She couldn't tear her eyes away from his, her attention completely on him.

"You deserve to die a long, cold, lonely death, girl," Kuron hissed, his fingers driving into her skin enough to draw blood, "after escaping my last attempt at your demise. And, judging by the sensors, there's no one here accept you and me."

The sensors picked up the DNA of anyone on the ship, projecting the results to a mini computer on every floor.

Pidge longed to scream at him that Shiro, the real Shiro, was here too. And that the DNA that the sensors mentioned was probably his, not the clone's.

"So now, you will die. But…" Kuron trailed off, his metal fingers beginning to glow. "Wouldn't it be better to destroy you, little by little? To haunt you…?"

Pidge stiffened, fear pounding in her chest. When Kuron said something, hs meant it.

"I…loath…you…" she hissed, and she could've sworn she heard her cheek bones crack from the effort.

"I know. I hate you, too." Kuron purred before letting his fist collide with her jaw.

Everything went fuzzy for a moment, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself alone in the hallway, tears of horror pooling on the ground, blood pouring from her mouth, (it was salty) and pain flaring through her stomach.

Her mind echoed thoughts of anger, bewilderment, and of worry. "Kuron. Kuron. Oh, Kuron Kuron Kuron." It chanted, and she folded into herself, sobbing.

She heard footsteps, not daring to raise her head for fear of meeting yellow eyes. She felt strong arms shake her, worry filling every jerk.

"Pidge? Pidge! Katie!" The voice was Shiro's…but should she trust it…? "Kathryn!"

That did it. Pidge opened her eyes, glancing up. Oh. It was Shiro. The real Shiro. HER Shiro. "Hey…Ta…Takashi…" she hated how weak her voice sounded, how tired she was. She felt her head begin to drop to the ground, but Shiro caught it.

"Pidge." Shiro grabbed her shoulders, forcing her into a sitting position. "What. Happened."

"Kuron." She gasped, a flash of yellow eyes crossing her memory, reminding her of all the pain the horrid clone had caused her. "He…he escaped…hates me." She groaned, her head nodding forwards, dipping for her chest.

"Quiznak." Shiro forced himself to look away from Pidge, his gaze encircling the room. "Yeah. Probably should have guessed…" he leaned Pidge against the wall, the unconscious girl slouching without his support.

He headed towards a green light in the far corner, outstretching a hand gently towards it.

The lights actually weren't supposed to be off, it was hardly noon. Kuron must have messed with the systems, causing a blackout. Shiro had to pry open his doors just to look around. Probably the Cryo-pods wouldn't be working either, just his-or rather Pidge's-luck.

He hadn't heard Pidge's cry of distress through the coms, he had come to see how she was doing. And, as was obvious, she was faring poorly.

He reached down-realizing that the light was the Green Bayard-, and scooped it up. It shrank down to it's classic form in his hand, and he sighed. Oh, Pidge.

Then a horrid thought accrued to him. Why hadn't Kuron finished her off? Unless he was coming back-!

Shiro pivoted with a start, his heart thumping. Pidge still lay in the slouched position, her head tilted away from him.

He sighed, scooping her up bridle style. He carried her over to his room, where the doors were still pried open. He had to force the doors closed behind them, and set her on his bed, frowning.

He had to finally admit it to himself, while Lance always seemed to have good luck, Pidge appeared to have the opposite. Bad luck.

The words made him inhale, gently glancing over at the sleeping child. She looked so tiny, so frail.

"Hmm…" Pidge shifted slightly, her eyelids twitching. "Ow…" her eyes flickered open, her eyes taking a moment to get adjusted to the dark, finally finding Shiro. "Uh. What happened…?"

"You said that Kuron attacked you…"

"Right…ow…so, boss, what's the plan?"

"Kuron must've broken the castle, it's a ship-wide power outage." Shiro frowned. "It's impossible to get into any room with prying doors open. So we're stuck. Why didn't he kill you?"

Pidge sucked in her breath, one hand wrapped around her stomach as she thrust herself into a sitting position. "He thinks, after his last attempt at killing me, that I somehow evaded death or something, so he wants me to suffer."

"Ah." Shiro nodded, pursing his lips. "I'll protect you, though."

"We can protect each other." Pidge insisted. "Listen, I can hack his arm, even from this distance. Then, when he's-"

"Pidge, I don't like this." Shiro interrupted, shaking his head.

"Shiro, I beat you once, I can do it again." Pidge insisted, crossing her arms.

Shiro nodded, remembering the painful memory. "Yeah. Okay, you hack, and I'll attack, got it?"

"Hmm." Pidge nodded, before frowning suddenly. "I may need my gauntlet."

Shiro held up her gauntlet, which he had found a few feet from Pidge's collapsed form just ten minutes earlier. "Like this?"

Pidge shook her head, smiling with a strained face. "You're magic, always have everything I need."

Shiro smirked, smiling. "Are you sure that you're okay? I can get some medicine from the infirmary for you."

"I…" Shiro didn't, nay, he COULDN'T have missed the flash of alarm that arose in Pidge's eyes. "…I…I'm FINE Shiro."

Shiro nodded, his eyes not leaving hers as he handed her the gauntlet. "Be careful. Don't over work yourself."

"Eh. It's an easy hack-!"

Shiro waved his hand dismissively, grinning. "Yeah, yeah. Get on with it."

A screen popped up in front of Pidge, and she clicked a few buttons, before tisk-ing under her breath. "Ugh, upgrades…"

"What?" Shiro peaked over her shoulder, and she easily shoved his head away, despite her weakened state, with one hand.

"Can't concentrate." She sniffed, shaking her head. Then, under her breath, she added, "Haggar. She keeps upgrading EVERYTHING."

"Pidge? Is there a problem?" Shiro asked, leaning close to her.

"Upgrades. Haggar somehow blocked every single possible way I hack his arm."

"They can't stay in the Zragon Base forever." Shiro huffed. The Zargon base was actually the main Galra command ship.

"Well…" Pidge began, hesitating. "They…can. Lotor had dorms on his ship for them."

"Oh." Shiro sighed. "So we're trapped."

"I suppose so-!"

The door began to open, sleek, grey fingers appearing as it was pried.

Pidge's Bayard appeared in her hand, and Shiro's Bayard began to glow from his hand's energy.

The door finally was opened just enough to reveal Keith's face. The ex-Paladin took a moment to take in Shiro, and Pidge, and then his knife lashed out. Shiro barely blocked with his arm, alarm flooding his face. In the next moment another Blade was on top of him, her balance upsetting his.

Keith grabbed his knife, holding against Shiro's throat.

Shiro, still shocked, could only stand there in confusion.

"Wait!" Pidge grabbed Keith's arm, everyone staring at her. Her hand was touching her neck, her eyes blazing. "That's Shiro. REAL Shiro, Keith. He's back."

"Oh." Keith's knife dropped from his hand, clattering to the floor.

The other Blade, who had been holding onto Shiro's shoulders, bracing her legs against his stomach, dropped off, releasing him.

"Sorry." She breathed, holding out her arm. "I'm Furita."

"So what's going on? Why's there no power?" Keith asked, ignoring everyone but Pidge.

"Kuron escaped." Pidge told him, sighing. "I don't know exactly what happened, except he has it out for me or somethin', and he-" Pidge to Keith, as quickly as she could, what happened in the week he was gone.

Shiro finally turned to them, frowning. "Okay, everyone, we need to-!"

"Is anyone else tired?" Furita interrupted, blinking.

"A little." Shiro admitted, frowning.

Pidge seated herself on the bed, glancing at the ventilation shaft, where she noticed a faint green mist. "Sleeping gas." She realized, but, by the time she turned to the others, the other three had already collapsed in exhaustion. A tick later, she dosed off, too.


	11. Chapter 11

April 8th, 2018, Sunday

Shiro woke up to the sound of his feet scraping against the floor, and he raised his head drearily. In front of him, he could make out the legs of a women, who was evidently dragging him.

To his left, Pidge was also being dragged by another, colorful Galra women. To his left, Keith was being carried, slung over the clone's shoulder. Just beyond Keith, the female blade, (Furita…?) was also being carried by a buff female.

He could make out their words, but barely, for his ears were ringing.

"-long do you have left?" His capturer asked, heaving from the effort of pulling him.

"Just a few doboshes left." Kuron told her, his eyes narrowing. "Then my body will be disposed."

"Of course." The colorful one nodded. "How're you holding up, Acxa?"

"He's really muscular for his age." The female dragging Shiro puffed. "I didn't expect the Paladins to be so buff. I'm impressed."

"That sounds like something Ezor would say." The buff one joked, shaking his head.

"Zethrid!" Ezor squeaked, glaring.

"All three of you, stop yappin'!" Kuron scolded. "Honestly, you all sound like children."

"Sorry." Ezor bowed her head in defeat.

"Yeah, sorry." Zethrid sighed.

Acxa just grunted, reminding Shiro of a certain mullet-haired Texan boy.

Shiro stayed silent, doing his best to pretend to be asleep. The conversation above him continued, but they spoke in quiet voices so that Shiro couldn't hear exactly what they said.

He saw Keith, a few feet away, open up his eyes and glance at Shiro, who offered a nod.

Keith blinked, and turned to Furita.

Furita also nodded, and Keith nodded, in turn, to Shiro. In moments the three of them leapt into action.

Keith punched Kuron's back, and Furita swung herself onto her feet, making an attempt to catch Zethrid in the jaw with her fist. Shiro rolled so that his feet faced Acxa and, in a quick movement, kicked her.

Acxa tumbled, managing to stay on her feet, though.

Keith began to punch the clone again before Kuron clutched him and swung him against the wall, knocking him unconscious.

Zethrid grabbed Furita's arm as she kicked the Blade's stomach with her knee. Furita dropped to the ground, clutching the infuriating spot.

Acxa pulled out her gun and fired, hitting Shiro in the temple, knocking him unconscious.

In the commotion, Pidge had remained still, she had remained awake ever since Kuron had restored power to the castle, and dragged them all to an escape pod, piloting them to the Galra ship.

Kuron had moved the other three to the storage hanger in the back, and seated her in the passenger seat, watching her suspiciously. In that time she made no move to illustrate the picture that she was awake.

She remained still, listening to their conversation. She tried to figure out things that she could use against them, but they were tight-lipped.

She heard them suddenly pounce upon their wardens, attacking them. And she heard her friends, right after the other, drop like flies.

She frowned slightly to herself, and felt herself, in the next moment, get heaved to her knees. She blinked her eyes open, her wrists being chained together. She glanced at the others, and saw that they received the same treatment.

She turned her head to look at Ezor, crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue. Ezor returned the look, shaking her head.

Kuron set them a frosty glare before turning towards a door, slipping inside.

Pidge glanced at the other three women, blinking at them.

Acxa, in a movement so small that Pidge almost missed it, held out a necklace. On the bead there was a familiar symbol.

The Blade of Marmora crest symbol.

Pidge, in shock, blinked at Acxa, who simply smiled softly, not looking at Pidge as she slipped the pendent into her suit's pocket.

The doors opened again, and Haggar stepped out.

Pidge sucked in a breath, leaning back. She had only heard about the witch, she had never actually been in her presence before.

Haggar made her way over to Furita first, grabbing her limp chin in her hands.

"A traitor Galra. Unique How did Kuron manage to catch her?" She hummed, before dropping Furita with no grace.

Haggar grabbed Keith, coming as close as possible to purring to herself. "Another hybrid for my collection." She nodded approvingly.

She skipped over Shiro, simply stating "Champion has already been studied."

She stopped in front of Pidge, kneeling down. "The Green Paladin is a female human! I shall enjoy studying you. And being the Green Lion's pilot, you are known to be the smartest, the bravest." Haggar grasped her chin, her eyes flashing. "You will be fun to break. You mean much to your team, don't you?" She grinned, then turned to Acxa. "Acxa, when you're ready, put these specimen into the cells. Feel free to pair them up."

Pidge glared at Haggar, her heart beating a hundred miles a moment.

Haggar motioned for Ezor and Zethrid to follow her, and the three retreated, leaving them alone.

"Are you okay?" Acxa blinked down at Pidge, taking a knee.

Pidge nodded, frowning. "I'm fine. So you're a-?"

"Shh!" Acxa pressed a finger to her lips, glancing at the unconscious three. "Listen, don't tell ANYONE, okay? Not your friends. Everything I do, it's towards my plan of escape, got it?"

Pidge nodded wordlessly as Acxa applied a clamp to Shiro's arm, rendering his metal arm useless.

"Unfortunately," Acxa explained, blinking. "I have to apply this to him, and only Haggar had the key. So, you'll have to deal with it when the time comes, and by that I mean hack it off. Think you can do that?"

Pidge nodded again.

"I need a better answer then that from you." Acxa huffed, shaking her head.

"Okay. Paladin's honor, I will do almost anything you ask."

"Good." Acxa smiled, ignoring the 'almost'. "Now, I'm going to inject this shot into the your friends, making them wake up. No matter what I do, play along, got it?"

"Uh. Okay."

Acxa held up a a needle filled with blue liquid and plugged it into Keith's neck.

After only three seconds the boy jerked up, gasping.

Acxa repeated the same thing to the other two, and they portrayed similar reactions.

To Pidge's surprise, Acxa hurled her to her feet, plugging her gun to the Green Paladin's head.

"Okay, y'all get moving, or Green here gets it." Pidge noticed her hardly visible Texan drawl, frowning. She raised her head ever so slightly, only rewarded when the barrel was pressed painfully into her temple.

Shiro and Keith exchanged a look of surprise, frowning. Furita hovered behind them, looking worried.

"Are you okay, Pidge?" Shiro asked, walking where Acxa instructed him. He wondered how Pidge remained so calm, hardly batting an eye.

"I'm fine, Shiro." She grunted, blinking at him. "Just keep on moving, and I'll stay that way."

Now this was really confusing. Usually she would insist that they 'get out of here' and to run for it, that she'd be find. Now it seemed like she wanted them to stay, and she wasn't afraid of the consequences, either.

Shiro wouldn't have left her for the universe, Acxa knew. So, in that way, she held the power. But power didn't matter to the youngest Kogane.

She wanted to help the Paladins, and the Blades. After all, she was a member of Marmora.

Keith watched his younger sister with no suspicion in his mind. He understood that she had a plan, and he figured that Pidge was, somehow, connected to her idea. He sighed inwardly, shaking his head. He wondered if Shiro really believed this hooey.

Furita watched Keith's shoulders relax, and she blinked, wondering why he wasn't nervous. She was hustled into a cell with the older boy, and she frowned, still curious.

Furita peaked through the barred door at Pidge and Shiro as they were shoved, without grace, into the cell across the hall.

Furita frowned as Acxa crossed to their cell once again, frowning.

"Girl." She barked, pointing. "Stand at the far side of the cell, and send Keith over."

Furita, in a mild daze, did what she was told, gesturing for Keith to cross over to the door.

She watched as they spoke quietly for a moment, and, finally, Acxa left, slinking away.

Furita counted to ten ticks before shoving Keith aside with her left hand. "You two okay?"

Silence for a split second. "Yeah, we're fine." Shiro sounded really confused. "How're Keith and you?"

"Keith looks a little shell shocked but he's good. We're good. Everything's good." Furita blinked.

"Okay." Shiro nodded, his face appearing in the door. The top fuzz of Pidge's head appeared, too.

"How long do you think it'll take for everyone to notice we're missing?" Pidge blinked, sighing.

"Pheobs, Deca-pheobs, movements, maybe." Furita shrugged. "I don't know."

"Okay. We should probably get some rest. If I'm right, we're gonna need it." Pidge acknowledged.

"Pidge is right." Shiro groaned. "Haggar has a way of toying with her prisoners."

"I've heard legends about it." Furita remembered, frowning at the tales of gore and blood and pain.

"I've experienced it firsthand." Shiro reflected, crossing his arms. "It was worse then I ever imagined."

"Right." Furita nodded, thinking about blood and wounds cut down to the bone. How much worse could if get? "Rest."

She curled down on the floor, only then realizing that Keith hadn't said a word.

In the cell across the hall, Shiro came to the same conclusion, wondering if Furita had been lying when she said that Keith was fine.

Shiro shook his head as he leaned against the wall, glancing at Pidge. He remembered the pain that shattered his bones, remembered the tiny knife that cut through his shoulder, taking Vargas to cut through his bone. They had infused him with a drug to keep him awake, forcing him to the experience the pain, except, due to the drug, times ten.

"Wait." Shiro breathed, uncertain as he remembered something. "They took away our Bayards, right?"

"Probably." Pidge blinked, glancing around. "That means we may be able to-"

"-summon them." Shiro finished, nodding. "Let's try."

Both opened their hands, frustrated when nothing happened.

"Marcon Nigelton." Pidge hissed. "The kind of metal makes a kind of electric barrier between it, making magic of any sort impossible. Also, if we touch the walls, we'd get electrocuted."

"Thanks for the picture." Shiro grimaced. "Can't we just reach our hand out of the cell and summon it?"

"Maybe. Depends if the cell across from us is made from Marcon Nigelton." Pidge blinked. "Cause it would make another electric barrier between us."

Shiro held his hand out between the bars, a moment later getting a frustrated expression. "Nope. Unfortunately it's made up of Marcon Nigelton, too."

"So there's nothing we can do. Except…" Pidge held up some packets that Acxa had secretly shoved in with them. "We can see what these are."

Shiro crouched down next to her, frowning. "What if it's poison or somethin'?"

"Probably not, these look pretty professional, probably made in a factory. And they haven't been opened, I believe. This one says 'burn cream' and this one is painkillers. Here's a packet of towelettes."

"Are you sure? She could be tricking us."

"Only one way to find out. We need to try it. Oh! Here's some medicine close to Neosporin."

"Huh." Shiro blinked, leaning close. He forgot about being suspicious as he picked up a few more small packets. "Sting medicine…Triple Antibiotic…Bister Ointment, tiny bandages…"

"Most of this we don't even need." Pidge realized, holding up some gauze and a few vitamins. "Pills? Seriously? Is this an Inhaler? Here's Saline Nasal Spray. Eye Wash…quiznak, even Cough Drops."

"Katie. We WILL need this, I assure you." Shiro sighed, gently pushing her hand to the ground. "All of this. By the time we get out of here, if even one bag isn't used, I'll be shocked."

"Depends on how long we're in here." Pidge sighed, digging her fingers into the packets. "We need to find a way to hide these."

Shiro glanced around, his eyes finally finding it. He walked over to a wall, pressing down on a small panel. A door opened up, and he gestured inside. "Bathroom." He told Pidge, blinking. "It would've took me months if not years to find if a fellow prisoner hadn't shown me it whenI first arrived."

"Cool!" Pidge grinned, smiling up at him.

"Come inside with me." He gestured.

She followed him in, and he held out his hand, a Bayard appearing in his hand.

"Cool! So the bathroom isn't made of Marcon Nigelton." Pidge smiled.

Shiro grinned back, using his metal hand to break into the floor. He pulled open a panel, and stuffed all the packets in it. He slid the panel back over the whole, nodding. "Done."

"What if, when they come in, we lure them into here?" Pidge asked, peering up at him in excitement.

"Lasers." Shiro shook his head, gesturing to the wall, where several support beams stood. "They activate them and these pillars shoot out laser doors, slicing through anything they touch. I saw it happen to a prisoner. She died."

"Oh." Pidge started, frowning. "That goes out of the question."

"Also," Shiro activated a long sword, and stepped out of the bathroom. Immediately the Bayard and weapon disappeared, and he shook his head. "Yeah. Besides, there's this clamp on my arm."

Pidge frowned, grabbing it as she gave a little pull. "Without the proper tools I can't do anything with it." She lied. She knew she could hack it of she wanted, but she realized that they couldn't go far, even if Shiro had a fully functional arm. Besides, apparently, Acxa had a plan of escape.

Pidge closed the bathroom, rubbing her temple. "Haggar's creepy." She bluntly stated, receiving a hard nod from Shiro.

"You saw her?"

"Yeah. While you three were unconscious." Pidge nodded, rubbing her cheeks. "Right before Acxa injected you guys."

"What was in that stuff?" Shiro asked, rubbing his neck. The hole that the shot had made still hurt. Mostly itched, though.

"She just said it would wake you up. Why?" Pidge asked, studying Shiro's hard face.

"I don't know. Something seems familiar about her…" Shiro sighed, shaking his head. "Reminds me of-"

"Keith?" Pidge asked, blinking up at him.

Shiro laughed dryly, shaking his head. "Him too. Actually, she seems almost identical to my father."

"You've never mentioned your family before." Pidge realized, staring up at him curiously.

"Yeah, well…it wasn't the most stable family." Shiro shrugged. "I don't like thinking about it."

"Why not?"

"Pidge. There are somethings best not spoken about." Shiro scolded, turning away suddenly. "Let's get some rest. We'll need it."


	12. Chapter 12

In the morning she came.

Shiro, a light sleeper, was on his feet as soon as he heard footsteps approach.

Pidge stirred when she felt his body warmth (they had slept with their backs pressed against each other) leave. She mumbled something in her sleep, folding into herself.

"Pidge!" He hissed, grabbing her arm to wake her up as he pulled her to her feet. "Wake up."

Pidge blinked for a moment, looking exhausted. "Where am…?"

"We're in the Galra base, remember?"

Pidge nodded, frowning. "Right. So what's…?"

The door opened, revealing Acxa, a glare stretched upon her face. "The girl." She demanded, reaching for her holster.

Shiro drew himself up, stepping in front of Pidge. "You're not getting her." He sniffed, relieved that the clamp didn't block his joints, and just the quintessence in his right arm. He placed his arms in a boxing position, two fists placed before his jaw.

Acxa groaned, shaking her head. "Why do earthlings always like doing things the hard way?" She observed, raising her head defiantly. "It's rather stupid."

Shiro pursed his lips, throwing the first punch out of spite.

Acxa smirked, easily dodging underneath his outstretched fist. She grabbed his metal arm, smashing it against the wall, Shiro growling through clenched teeth.

She swung behind him, and, before Pidge could react, shoved the child several steps back.

Shiro turned around, facing away from the door, and Acxa leaped over his head, an ability Galra seemed to possess, as she grabbed a metal device from her armor's pocket, slamming it into the wall.

Shiro turned again, but, this time, the clutch on his arm vibrated, going towards the metal device on the wall, dragging his arm with it.

Shiro glared, struggling against the magnet.

"And…" Acxa mused, adjusting something on her gun, pointed it at him. "To keep you from causing trouble…"

Pidge grabbed her arm, dragging it down. Honestly, Pidge was confused. She thought that Acxa said she was on their side, why was she attacking them?

Acxa glared, sending a quick kick in Pidge's direction. Luckily, the blow was light, just startling the girl, but enough to upset Pidge's balance.

Acxa turned her gun around, snapping the butt against Shiro's head, causing dizziness and a dull ringing in his head. The world went fuzzy, too.

"Humph!" Acxa snorted, taking Pidge by the shoulders as she pinned her arms behind her. "You're both reckless." She grunted, dragging Pidge from the cell as the girl thrashed, screamed, and cursed in Altean.

When Shiro began to realize what happened, he pulled angrily against the device, finding that resistance was futile. Now he tried prying the magnet away, getting his fingers between the flow.

He tried the clamp, and, as he predicted, failed. Shiro was beginning to get frantic. He had a rare skill for unbelievable patience, but he refused to use it now. Instead, he tried to alight his arm.

His arm distantly hummed, as if trying to turn on. It lasted for five doboshes, and the result was a few stray sparks alight from his wrist.

Shiro hissed, letting his body go limp. What was the point?

Five Vargas passed in awful silence; silence that reminded Shiro of his past house on Earth.

His mother, Aki, would be in her room, sulking, and he would be stretched out on the couch, reading as he thought about space, and the wonderful possibilities in the Galaxy Garrison.

Shiro blinked back his thoughts, forcing painful memories away from his head. He was sick of this.

The door swung open, and he straightened, raising his head to glare at the door. It was lucky, he decided, that he faced the door and was close to it.

Ezor, the colorful one, glanced at him, as if to assure herself that he wasn't going anywhere, and then she roughly shoved Pidge inside.

"Here." Ezor stated, her usual cheerful voice sounding very bored.

Pidge stayed silent, frozen for a tick as the door closed behind her. Finally, it seemed like an eternity to Shiro, she moved toward him, practically collapsing beside him.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked, looking her up and down.

Her sleeves, they had been allowed to keep their normal clothes, were torn in several different places, her eyes blurry with pain. Her mouth was slightly agape, her back rigid. Aside from these small details, she seemed okay.

"I'm fine." Pidge snapped, her voice sounding too rushed. "Just a little…" her voice died away, and her shoulders hunched, her entire body vibrating like she was holding back tears. "I'm fine." She repeated before Shiro had the chance to speak. "Just shocked. Just shocked."

"Katie." Shiro's voice broke to a low whisper as he grasped her shoulders. "What happened."

Pidge relaxed at hearing her given name, and she shook her head in order to clear her stormy memories. "Haggar." She moaned, refusing to look him the the face. "Haggar happened."

"Katie. That gives me nothing." Shiro sighed, resting his left hand on her shoulder.

"I know." Pidge inhaled, before launching in. Her voice sounded raspy, tired. Strained. "I…when I arrived in the torture chamber, Haggar strapped me onto a table. You know, the kind that sits horizontal with your head towards the ceiling? Anyway, she turned on the electricity. Way up. And she left it on the entire time. She may have turned it down or off at some point or another, but I don't remember very well." Pidge shook her head, indicating that she was done. She didn't want to talk about it.

"Pidge, get a painkiller." Shiro ordered, doing his best to sound like the leader he was supposed to be. "Then, so you think you can hack off the magnet?"

"Yeah. On one condition." Pidge didn't show any signs of moving, just stared up at him. "You don't struggle when they come to take me away later."

"Pidge, I can't-!"

"You can, and will. You and I need to reserve our strength for whatever comes up. This is a point of time where we need to toughen up; become REAL soldiers. And being soldiers means having common sense." With each word, Pidge gathered herself, her harvest gold eyes seeming to burn into him. Her shaky voice no longer sounded weak, she seemed like a strong, young woman, who seemed determined to have her way.

Shiro blinked In surprise, frowning. Usually he would be the one to give the lectures. But Pidge…

"Please." She begged, staring up at him hopefully.

"Okay, Katie. I promise." Each word seemed to destroy Shiro's soul, ripping it again and again. "As long as you don't get hurt."

Pidge's eyes clouded, but she managed to grin as she grasped the magnet, somehow navigating around his metal arm as she fiddled with it. After a moment it began to smoke, and Shiro's arm was free.

"Shiro?" Pidge asked, staring up at him. "Do you think Kuron escaped…because of me?"

"What do you mean?" As soon as Shiro's words left his mouth he felt like an idiot. He remembered, and he understood.

"Uh. Well, after we found Ulaz and everything, I showed everyone simple hacking, so the fiasco with Allura and you wouldn't happen again. I introduced the possibility of hacking out of cells. Do you think Kuron remembered?"

"Maybe." Shiro admitted, realizing that he could remember every detail of her lesson. He remembered every. Single. Detail. He wondered if that was weird. "But Pidge, I was the one who ASKED you if you could share. So if anything it's my…" Shiro's voice drifted away as he blinked. "…fault…"

"Shiro?"

"Pidge! What if you hacked the cells? We could get away!"

"Shiro, we wouldn't get far! Besides, we couldn't free Keith and Furita before we were caught. There's cameras everywhere." Pidge pointed out, crossing her arms defensively.

"Right." Shiro shook his head, turning away. "Are you positive you're okay?"

"Well…" Pidge inhaled, here eyes clouding. "…Haggar threatened to quote unquote 'shatter my body and mind unless if Voltron was handed over to her, and the right to the throne'. I don't believe her. She needs us for SOMETHING, I just don't know what. Yet."

"Pidge. Zarkon was after our lions like crazy, why wouldn't Haggar be too?"

"Zarkon's dead. He was a old Paladin of Voltron. Haggar wasn't." Pidge shrugged, her voice holding mirth as she shook her head.

"Haggar does everything to please Zarkon, dead or alive." Shiro reminded her, brushing his ivory locks from his face.

"Oh. Yeah. I guess you're right." Pidge frowned, and, for the first time since they arrived, seemed helpless. Tired.

She leaned against his left arm, sighing. "I miss the castle." She admitted, her brown locks whisking around Shiro's arm as her eyes closed.

Once she was asleep, Shiro realized that she never took the painkillers. And he realized that she was strong. She would push through.

* * *

The clopping of Allura's heels echoed through the bridge, reminding everyone to what happened.

When they came back, they had first realized that the power was flickering, although the crystal was fully intact. The mice went inside the system and revealed a few wires that looked as though they had been ripped frantically, and connected again hurriedly. It wasn't the best job it could be.

Second, there were literally no biorhythms aboard the ship that weren't on the bridge.

Third, one of the pods was missing,

Fourth, after further investigation, they realized that a Galra ship, namely, KEITH'S Galra ship was in the hanger XX-Y59, but, as earlier mentioned, Keith wasn't on board.

Lance inhaled, focusing on his breathing. They had checked the whole Zragon base, too. No Keith, Shiro, or Pidge.

Crap. Quiznak. Ruggle. Gosh. Darn. Monkey-Feathers. Lance was running out of made up swears.

The other Paladins had been in the Zragon base for only ten vargas, where…no…how did they just disappear?

"As soon as you get those wires pieced together, Hunk, I want to scan for that pod!" Allura hissed, her shoes sending even bigger vibrations through the floor, if that was possible.

"Can do!" Hunk gave her a happy thumbs-up, a little too cheerful for the situation. "Just another tick or two…annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-"

If looks could kill, Hunk would be dead ten times over.

"-nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-"

"Allura." Lotor gently took her arm, almost dragging her towards a chair. "He'll handle it. Just relax."

"Right. You're right Lotor."

"-nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnddddddd I'm DONE!" Hunk cheered, sparing them a confident grin.

"Thank you, Hunk." Allura sighed, beginning to step towards the counsel, but Lotor held out a hand.

"Stay there, sweetie." He mused, smiling. "I shall do it. Your pacing must have worn you out."

Allura smiled in amusement at him, nodding. "I suppose."

Lotor clicked on a few buttons, his narrowed eyes widening slightly. "Trackers off. Must be, for I'm not getting any signal. Can't patch through to them either. Wait, there's an incoming feed-!"

Another few ticks passed by before Kolivan's hard face appeared in front of them. "Keith had left. Nobody seems to know where he is."

"He was here earlier, except we didn't see him. Kuron escaped," Lance briefly explained. "While we were at the Zragon base. He disappeared, along with Shiro, Pidge, and Keith. All that remains is Keith's ship."

"A girl. Do you know if a female Galra accompanied him?"

"No. Cameras were off around that time. But there was some blood in a hallway. Why? What girl?" Hunk asked, stepping off a ladder he had been standing on to reach the crystal.

"She vanished at the same time Keith did. Her name's Furita, and she's my daughter."

A chuckle arose from Lance's general direction, and everyone turned to glare.

"What? It's funny. Kind of. I thought you were single."

"You find this amusing? My daughter and Keith are only-God-knows-where and you LAUGH?"

"Uh…yes…? Admit it, you're not really…spouse…material…, ya know?"

"Can we get rid of him?" Kolivan inquired, glaring through narrow slits. "His babbling is getting us nowhere."

"Lance, your Yulschtrix may be moving a bit too much." Coran blinked sympathetically.

"Oh. Sorry." Lance sarcastically nodded. "Excuuuuuse ME!"

"Lance!" Lotor snapped, turning back to the screen. "We'll keep you posted about any other developments, Mr. Kolivan."

"Thank you." Kolivan sighed, a breath of relief soaring from his mouth as the screen clicked off.

Everyone glanced at Lance, glaring.

"Whaaat?" Lance shrugged, meeting their gaze with innocence. "Please don't kill the messenger…"

* * *

Hardly five Vargas later, Zethrid appeared in the cell door, this time wielding a knife. It looked like Keith's but how did she-?

Right. Shiro realized. She must have confiscated their weapons.

Zethrid pulled a floating cart in after her, kneeling in front of them.

Pidge and Shiro both glared, the latter tightening his hold on the smaller one.

"No. Not Pidge." He stubbornly hissed.

Pidge glanced up at him, her voice slightly quavering. "You promised that you wouldn't…"

Shiro ignored her, continuing to hold Zethrid's eye contact.

"I see Haggar's pet released your arm. Anyway, re-lax." Zethrid sounded exasperated. "You have her for another quarter varga. Unless if either one of you disobey. Then I kill the other one and BAM! No more cellmate." She roared with laughter, tossing her head back.

Pidge flinched, glancing at Shiro with fear, real fear, in her face.

"Anyway, I only came for a sample." Zethrid shrugged, gesturing to the cart. Four jars rested on it, one of which were filled with a red sample, another filled with teal, the color of Galra blood. Beside each filled jar lay a large supply of flesh. About a quarter of Shiro's arm per bundle.

"Haggar needs some skin and blood to pull off a prank." Zethrid crackled. "We already extracted a sample off of the other two prisoners, so now it's your turn." Zethrid tossed Keith's knife in the air, smirking. "This is gonna be fun. For me."

Shiro felt undeniable fear pound in his heart, pulling Pidge even closer then she already was as Pidge draped an arm across his back and squeezed.

"Shiro…?" She whispered as Zethrid leaned down over them, her face inches away from Shiro's nose.

"Well? Who's first?" Zethrid asked, grinning at them with a wicked air.

Shiro swung a punch with his metal fist, catching the Galra women on the nose.

Zethrid stumbled back a few steps, cleaning blood from her nose. "Quiznak. Did your mother teach you those manners?" She sarcastically grunted, glaring at the sticky, teal liquid on her fingers.

"Actually," Shiro huffed, releasing Pidge as he stood up. "She did."

Pidge stood up too, staring at Shiro in surprise. "Uh. Dark."

Shiro ignored her, his silver fingers bending into a fist as he glared at Zethrid.

"Okay." Zethrid huffed, "whatever."

Shiro felt his human hand's middle finger twitch, and, out of his peripheral vision, saw Pidge sidestep ten steps accordingly.

Zethrid's eyes darted from Paladin to Paladin and back again. She growled deeply, a groan arising from her throat. She bared her fangs and withdrew a large gun from her holster. "Ugh. Why are Paladins SO hard to maintain?"

Pidge glared frostily, her eyes narrowing as she frowned. "It may have something to do with HAVING OUR SKIN CUT OFF."

Shiro nodded, uneasily shifting his weight.

"If only Haggar would allow me to kill you two." Zethrid grunted, pointing her gun at Shiro uncomfortably. "Then this would be easy."

Shiro clenched his left hand into an fist, and Pidge took two steps back. The Paladins had constructed a special way of communicating with simple hand movements, such as finger twitches, wrist flicks, and other such muscle works.

Shiro eyes narrowed as he took in Zethrid. Any weaknesses he could exploit? Quiznak. Pidge was better at this then him.

He sent her a quick glance, but she wasn't looking at him, Pidge was concentrating on Zethrid, whose form seemed to be perfect.

Before either Paladin could react, Zethrid shot two shots, each stunning the Paladins.

Shiro panted for a moment, rubbing his shoulder.

Pidge wasn't sure what she was supposed to do about the electric shock she had received. All she could do was stand there, her feet pasted to the ground.

Zethrid snorted, grabbing Pidge by the hair. "Works every time."

Shiro lunged for Zethrid in fury; he didn't care about his promise to Pidge. Nothing would EVER happen to her again, he'd make sure of it.

Zethrid whipped out her wrist, laughing as blue electricity shot from her gauntlet, freezing Shiro mid lunge. "Don't worry." She crooned, arching one eyebrow. "It'll wear out. Eventually. Can you…?" She waved her hand in front of Shiro's face, and he blinked. "Yeah. Yeah, you can see."

Zethrid snorted, plunging her knife into Pidge's left leg in one swift movement. "Haggar's orders."

Pidge let out a bloodcurdling scream as she lunged forward, crumpling in horror and pain.

Shiro felt like he was stuck in a web, the more he struggled, the more it enveloped him. And he couldn't reach Pidge!

Zethrid then turned to him, clasping his real arm between her fingers as she squeezed. "I still need samples!" She giggled, snarling at Shiro as she cut off half of his upper arm.

The pain pulsed through Shiro, and the one coherent thought he had was "I can't lose another arm, I can't!"

A moment later, or was it five minutes, Zethrid slammed the door behind her, laughing in triumph.

Once she got out of energy shot, the energy capturing Shiro disintegrated, and he collapsed onto his right arm and knees, gasping in pain.

Pidge clutched beneath his elbow, shoving him onto his back. "Why are you so HEAVY?" She grunted, glaring down at him.

"I'm fine." He hissed, forcing himself to sit up. "How's your leg?"

"First of all, you are NOT fine. My leg's…okay, I guess. Not as bad as your arm…"

"Okay." Shiro frowned. "What about the "sample" produced on you? Gotta hurt."

"Actually, she left after she did it to you. No sample. Wait a moment, Shiro…! Acxa left us all that medicine. Let's test it."

"Pidge, I'm not sure…" Shiro began, his doubts overflowing.

"Just a sec!" Pidge assured him, limping something awful back to the bathroom. When she got back, Shiro grabbed her by the arm and forced her to sit down.

She willingly obliged, grunting slightly. "I got some of that Neosporin, those painkillers and towelettes, and here's some gauze."

"Nice." Shiro nodded. "So, what first?"

"Probably painkillers." Pidge announced, shaking some into her hand. She gave one to Shiro as she swallowed the other for herself. "And now we need towelettes to clean out the wounds."

Shiro took two towelettes, pressing it to the large alcove in his arm. "Ow."

Pidge took one for herself and cleaned away the blood on her leg, silently cursing Altean under her breath. "Quiznak." Pidge completed her task before him, sprinkling some Neosporin onto her leg before wrapping it semi-tightly in gauze. "There we go!" She announced gleefully, pressing it slightly to see if the cloth would be dyed red. It wasn't.

Shiro finished with his a dobosh later, grunting in undeniable pain as his arm swung as he stood. "Ow."

"We should probably keep these supplies out. Because, of I'm right, I'll need it."

"You're right." Shiro admitted before remembering something. "Wait, Zethrid never drew my blood."

"She used the blood from the skin to leek into the jar. When she cut your skin, she also hit an artery, so all she had to do was the collect the last of the blood from there. Also, she burned it with her gun, so it wouldn't spurt after she collected. I'm surprised you're not weak."

"I don't remember that." Shiro confessed, blinking in confusion.

"You passed out for a few minutes." Pidge shrugged, acting like it didn't matter. "And that's when she took her chance."

"Oh." Shiro glanced out the cell grating, sighing. "I wonder how much longer we'll be stuck here. I hate this place." Then, to the room across from him, he called out, "hey, are you two okay?"

Furita's friendly face, darkened by pain, appeared instantly, holding up her arm, which had been torn the same way Shiro's was. "Not really. Keith's leg was torn. He's unconscious. You?"

Shiro held up his arm, and Furita squinted. "Are you bandaged up? How-?!"

"Here." Shiro used his right arm to toss some of the supplies across the hallway, relieved that there weren't any guards to stop them."

"Wow." Furita fumbled to catch them, steadying her grip after a moment. "How…? Oh, never mind. You probably snuck in some under your civilian clothing, right?"

Shiro opened his mouth to tell her that Acxa had dropped them off, but Pidge interrupted. "Yeah, we did." She assured the other female.

"Cool! I should've thought of that."

Pidge shot Shiro a brief look, begging him to agree with her. To LIE.

Shiro sighed, patting her shoulder grudgingly.

"See you two in a moment!" Furita grinned, ducking away from the bars. "I still need to see to our wounds."

* * *

Long wait, Long chapter. Sorry for not updating sooner, I wasn't sure how to make this happen.


	13. Chapter 13

Pidge blinked back the harsh purple lights, her breath uneven as she tried to get away from them, her back pressed into the ground.

She felt something moving up and down her right leg, the touch warm and soothing.

Pidge groaned, trying to move towards the thing, but hardly making any motion at all.

"Katie?" A quiet, low voice asked, and Shiro's face leaned into her vision. "Are you…?"

A sudden flash of a cold, bitter memory sprang back to her, and she whimpered. "My left leg's gone, isn't it?" She asked, her voice just above a scratchy whisper.

Shiro's shoulders slumped, and he averted her gaze. "Yeah."

"Haggar must've used it for her stupid "sample"." Pidge spat, her whole body beginning to relax.

"Oh, Katie." Shiro whispered, smoothing back her locks from her face. "Where's your pain?" Pidge moved her fingers one by one, frowning in concentration as she moved her joints in her arms as well. Next she worked on her right foot. Finally she tried to move her left leg, and felt the nerves stop abruptly at her thighs. The pain rocketed back to her brain, and she clenched her teeth. "Just in my left leg." She rasped, shaking her head slightly.

"It ends halfway above your knee." Shiro gently tapped the injury, and Pidge jerked. "Scale from one to ten, how bad is it? One being "feels fine"."

"Eight." Pidge grunted, and he ever so slightly touched the leg again in response. "Seven." Shiro hardly grazed the stump this time, and Pidge blinked. "Five."

Shiro moved back to her head, blinking down at her. "Acxa dropped off some bandages a while ago. I used almost all of them to fix up the wound, but I still don't want to move you. Want to risk it?"

Pidge frowned, applying that she didn't want to try it either. Her head throbbed, her nerves flaring in pain. "I want to stay here." She sighed, her fingers curling placidly around what remained of her leg. "The good news is that I think I overheard Haggar and Acxa saying that they'd give me a new leg next session."

The Generals had fallen into a pattern. Every ten Vargas, Acxa would take Pidge away to a torture chamber, where the smallest Paladin would stay for five excruciating hours. Then Ezor would drag her back, shove her into the cell, and leave. Zethrid had decided to come give both of them torture sessions of her own; she enjoyed slapping them and watching the marks fade into blue bruises. She loved to pound them against the walls, or inject them with weak yet painful poison, as they found out over the next couple of days. Was it days? They both kept track of days with Pidge's sessions, and, by their calculations, when her leg was replaced, they had stayed in the ship for a total of three or four cycles.

Pidge's leg was worthless; it's only use was for support, there wasn't even toes at the bottom, just a metal blob. Pidge, when she walked with it, waddled along, each movement seeming to weaken and zap her already crucially low strength, torturing her even in her sleep.

Shiro would sometimes cry inwardly when he saw her, and aloud when she slept.

They, but mainly Shiro, would talk to Furita across the hallway, sometimes Pidge would pipe up retorts from her temporary residing place on the ground, but they never heard a word from Keith. Shiro never saw the boy, either.

Furita assured them that Keith was fine, that he chattered away to Furita all the time, and he spoke to Acxa when she came. For some reason, though, he seemed to slink into the far corner when Shiro called, but he was fine. His wound was healing quite nicely, too, Furita always beamed whenever they spoke.

Two sessions after Pidge's leg was replaced, Zethrid stormed in, her lips curved into a wicked smile. "Good morning you two!"

"Zethrid." Shiro pushed himself to his feet, placing himself, as always, in front of Pidge. He heard Pidge stumble behind him, drawing herself to her full height.

"Paladins." Zethrid greeted them, excitement covering any other emotions she may have. "I have special drugs for you today!" She held up two shots, her gaze never breaking from their eyes.

Shiro felt a prick of fear in his chest, stepping so that he stood in front of Pidge entirely.

"Let's get started. This one is reserved for you, Blackie." Zethrid smirked, holding up a needle filled with purple liquid. "Haggarium." She pulled up the second shot, filled with a bubbling, green substance. "And, for the Green Paladin, I got Prokon. Heard of it?"

Shiro's eyes narrowed, he knew of Prokon. It was a popular drug to the Galra, used to paralyze their enemies, but kept them conscious and make them feel whatever pain was afflicted upon them multiplied.

Zethrid grinned at his shock, flipping open her holster so she could reach her gun within a moments notice, just in case. The two Paladins had learned rather quickly that resistance was futile, and they made no effort to stop her, now. But it was just in case.

Zethrid grabbed Shiro's metal arm, using a key to quickly undo the clamp as she pulled him towards her so that she could eject the shot into her neck more easily. She made sure that it hit a vain, and stepped back to admire her work.

Shiro shuddered, his legs beginning to give way as his body relented to the quintessence. It hurt…he couldn't do anything…

Pidge clutched him from behind, helping to rest his back against the wall, her glare never leaving Zethrid.

Zethrid leaned down, grabbing her by the collar and treating her the same way as her leader, except, this time, she tossed the girl across the cell.

As Pidge's back collided against the wall, she gave a panicked scream, the pain agonizing her as her back arched. The Prokon was already taking effect.

Almost as soon as Pidge cried out, Zethrid left the cell, leaning against the door so she could watch the effects take place.

"What the crap are you doing to them?" Keith screeched, his face appearing in the cell door, his cheek pressed against Furita's head as he shoved her out of the way. "I swear, if you hurt them…"

"What're you gonna do?" Zethrid mocked, her eyes never leaving the mess in the Paladins' cell. "You're trapped in there."

Keith cursed something in Galra in response.

Pidge's eyes flickered as she heard his voice, her head twitching in his direction. She gasped for breath, her heart squeezing in her chest.

"Pidge!" Shiro's voice called to her, sounding dazed and panicked. "I can't control my-!" His warning came too late, his eyes burning purple as his mind went blank. His body was already pinning her down, unnecessarily as she was almost completely paralyzed, and his fist was beginning to glow purple as it dropped towards her face, breaking her jaw.

Pidge's body jerked from the impact, surging with pain. "Shiro-!" She began to plead, her chin hurting whenever it moved as she begged him to stop hurting her, just to STOP.

His arm didn't listen, and collided with her cheek bone, an eerie CRACK echoing around the room. "Stop-!" She tried again, once more in vain, as once more the glowing fist made a jab at her face, this time making contact with her eye, burning it shut. A scream ripped itself unwillingly from her throat, her body trembling. She heard someone screech her name, perhaps it was Keith, and felt her body lifted from the ground, and she withered as much as she could.

She blinked her eyes open into narrow slits and immediately closed them when she saw that it was still Shiro, holding her by her neck, his expression blank as his eyes continued with their pinkish glow.

"Please-!" She gasped, her fingers curving slightly in pain. "Shiro, this isn't you!"

Apparently he took no noticed, shoving her whole body against the metal wall, tearing open the side of her face that wasn't already destroyed. Her back was ripped open as he dragged her, blood staining her clothes, pressed between his hand and the wall, around the perimeter of the room.

She fought back, unsuccessfully, pitiful sobs, urging him to quit hurting her, that the stupid Haggarium was doing this too him.

It ended with her hovering a meter above the ground, his hand burning into her neck.

She felt her voice box get burned, partly crushed as her voice died suddenly in her throat, her skin mashed down to the bone.

"Shhhhh…" she coughed, consciousness fading. "Shhhhheeerrrrhoooo…ssssssstop…"

"Hey!" A bitter voice broke into their battle, and a throwing knife forced Shiro's metal hand away from Pidge.

Pidge dropped to the ground, inhaling and exhaling deeply, her entire body rigid.

"He coulda killed Haggar's pet!" Ezor was pining Shiro against the wall, using her knives to trap his arms. "Zethrid, what were you thinking?!"

"Haggar said I could give him a krit of Haggarium!" (A krit was about a teaspoon, if Pidge remembered correctly.)

"Did you JUST give him a krit?" Ezor snapped, picking up Pidge's limp body.

"Maybe a drop of two extra," Zethrid admitted, hanging her head, "I was caught up in the moment, and, you have to admit, it was kinda funny! He is so protective of her, and then he tried to KILL her? It was priceless."

"You'll have to show me later from security footage." Ezor's voice held mirth, and she shook her head. "Usually I'd be fine with it, but Haggar wants her pet ALIVE, so sorry."

Keith, who had been listening and watching the entire time, with Furita, growled as he slammed his fists against the bars. He HATED hearing Pidge referred to as "Haggar's pet", he despised it.

"I'll paint the walls with your blood!" Keith shouted after them, his eyebrows knitting together.

"My blood would look ugly on the walls!" Ezor chirped back, turning. "Her blood looked just fine in the other cell, though." She mocked, nodding towards Pidge.

"You stupid STUPID ruggles! I swear, if you hurt her, I'll kill you! I'LL RIP EVERY QUIZNAKING BONE FROM YOUR BODY, AND FEED THEM TO THE DOGS! YOU HERE ME?! I'LL KILLL YOU!"

"Keith…" Furita patted his back gently, pulling him to the ground with her. "They're gone. But did you hear them? Haggar wants her alive. That means they'll do anything to keep her that way. Isn't that good?"

"It means Haggar is going to torture her even more." Keith whispered, leaning more into Furita's arms. "She's going to destroy her mind, break her heart, and shrink her soul. I know she will."

"But she's ALIVE." Furita hummed, rubbing his back gently. "Which means, no matter what happens, we can retrieve her again."

"I want to go home." Keith whimpered, curling his body over her arms as he shook with sobs.

"Shh…" Furita cooed. "I know. I know…"

Ten doboshes later, Shiro raised his face, his gaze circling around the cell.

Blood. Blood plastered itself on the walls, more blood then he had seen since the gladiator arena. And on a few places on his body, the same blood.

Shiro managed to get one arm free, then pulled out the other knives. He checked himself for injuries, and tried to remember what happened.

Zethrid had DONE something to him, he knew. He reflected reaching towards Pidge's small body as it shook from pain, and after that…he could remember bits and pieces, mainly his friend begging him to "snap out of it" and other such pleads.

Wait. Pidge. Where was she?

"Where's Pidge?" He called to the other cell, and both of his fellow inmates' tear strained faces appeared.

"I don't know. My guess is the infirmary, 'cause Haggar wants her alive." Furita informed him, blinking. "You okay? We heard you shouting."

Keith opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut, looking shocked.

"I'm…I'm fine. But Pidge. Did you see her? How hurt was she?"

"We saw her. I'm not sure exactly how hurt she is, but I could tell that she was really bleeding; Ezor's suit was covered with her blood. Also her face was pretty torn up." Furita shrugged. "Sorry, that's all I know."

"Ugh. This is all my fault. If I hadn't let it overcome my body…"

"Hey. Even the strongest can't resist everything." Furita shrugged.

Keith seemed like he REALLY wanted to say something, but he left the window.

"At least…" Furita's words died in her throat as her head turned to watch Keith slink away. "…uh…oh, right! At least you recovered quickly, so you can help Pidge when she returns! You're not stuck like a maniac forever."

"Thanks." Shiro drily nodded. "I'll remember that I tried to kill Pidge, but that's fine, because now I can be there as a friend. That's good news."

Furita sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I don't know her all that well. How would she act when she gets back?"

A beat or two of silence from Shiro's side.

"Think that over." Furita nodded, waving her hand as she disappeared from view.


	14. Chapter 14

After only a quintent, the usual schedules resumed, except, this time, Zethrid didn't come during their break times. She came to mess with Shiro while Pidge was gone, however.

Sometimes she hit him, once she dislocated his arm, (Acxa put it back in place when she next came for Pidge, eight Vargas later) and she even broke his prosthetic arm so it couldn't move at all.

Pidge had forgiven him pretty quickly, but she tended to flinch when he approached her suddenly, calling her name when she wasn't facing him. Her arm continued to wrap tenderly around her stomach, a habit that wasn't to go away anytime soon.

Pidge's face was scratched up, her jaw and cheekbone still broken, her eye still swollen shut. In the rare occasions she managed to open her left eye, they had discovered that she was blind in that facility.

The day came that Shiro dreaded hardly two quintents after "the incident". The day he could hear her scream from the chamber.

Shiro folded into himself, covering his ears in an effort to block out the noise, the ear-splitting wail of pain.

The sobbing continued for three Vargas, and, after another five doboshes, Ezor shoved her into the prison again, sticking out her tongue at both of them.

Pidge arms and fingers, on both sides, had been broken and dislocated, fractured and bled.

Shiro instantly took her arms in his working hand, but Pidge instantly pulled away.

"No! Stop!" She sobbed, shaking her head in pain. "No more…"

"What's going on?" He heard Furita's alarmed voice, and he rose to the door.

"They dislocated her arms." He explained, frowning. "I was trying to put them back."

"Ah. Maybe use some painkillers first…?" Furita suggested. "And use gauze as a sling to help it heal."

"Where'd you learn all this?" Shiro asked, glancing at Pidge, who was staring at her arms. She was probably in shock or delusional.

"I sucked at missions, so the Blade raised me to be a doctor." Furita shrugged. "Also-!"

"Alright, quiet down." She was interrupted by Acxa's voice, the general holding no mirth in her tone. Acxa's gaze circled from cell to cell, her lips drawn into a snarl. "It's the night cycle; you need to keep it down, or the others will wake up."

Suddenly, Acxa crossed over to Furita and Keith's cell, and, after opening the door, gestured for them to follow her. She slipped over to the other cell, unlocking the door.

She then turned to Keith to whisper something to him.

Shiro helped Pidge stagger to her feet, his arm draped underneath her arms, supporting her. She whimpered with each step, her shoulders heaving with sobs.

"Alright." Acxa snorted, turning away from her lookalike. "I need everyone here to just shut up and trust me, got it? I'm helping you get out of here. Listen, we need to go fast. With her shock and that defective leg," she gestured to Pidge's left leg, "we're not getting anywhere. So, someone needs to carry the girl."

Pidge melted slightly into herself, her gaze darting nervously around as she dug her feet into the ground, but to no avail.

Before anyone could blink, Acxa had injected some weird substance into Pidge's neck, dusting her hands. Pidge dropped like a fly, and Acxa handed her off to a stunned Keith.

"Sleep medicine." She told them, holding up the shot. "We can't risk her making a sound, for she may wake up the witch, Zethrid, and Ezor." She then gestured for them to follow after her. "Blade, behind me. Blackie, watch our back. We need to make quick work if we want to be out before anyone else wakes up. It's the night shift." She explained, handing her gun to Shiro. "Only fire this if absolutely necessary. I don't want to attract unwanted attention."

Shiro nodded, and shot an unsure glance at Pidge. "We'll all make it out, right?"

"Only if you all follow my lead." Acxa grunted. "And shut up." She set off, passing a few hallways and telling a few very tired guards that she was leading them to Haggar's chambers.

Acxa managed to sneak them some large double doors, where jars of chemicals awaited. "Help me load these up." She ordered, already piling containers onto a hover cart. "Oh, here are your Bayards and knives too…" she grunted, placing the four weapons in a small box connected to her cart.

Keith placed Pidge off to the side as he loaded as many books as possible onto his own cart.

Shiro and Furita were dumbfounded, exchanging looks of confusion as the two continued to collect the jars.

"You two going to help?" Keith grunted, staring at them with a look that could kill. "That'd be REAL helpful."

"Why're you so trusting of her?" Shiro asked Keith as they fell into a smooth rhythm.

Keith gave him a look that froze his bones, like he was shocked by how dumb Shiro was. He opened his mouth to explain, but Acxa broke in.

"Keith, tell him later. Blackie, it may be best for you to take the girl. Keith, Blade, help me with these carts."

The three of them used a electric cord to connect the carts, and Furita gave them a tug to make sure they were secure as Acxa waved them out.

They didn't, luckily, meet any guards as she practically shoved them into the pod.

"Keith, co-pilot. Blackie, you got guns, just in case. Blade-"

"-Furita."

"-load the supplies in place." Acxa waved her hand dismissively. "and, Blackie, put the girl on that cot."

"Please STOP calling him that." Keith grunted, shaking his head. "His name's Shiro."

"Well, excuse me for not knowing his name." Acxa huffed, the exhale making her hair fly upwards for a split second.

"We say each other's names EVERY STINKING DAY! How do you not remember?!"

"I tend to forget people that I don't like. And you're moving to that category." Acxa sniffed, crossing her arms in a manner that seemed very like Keith.

"Like you'd forget me."

"You two!" Shiro interrupted, leaning against the wall, holding Pidge's limp hand with his left one. "Shouldn't we leave? Instead of arguing?"

"Shut your quiznak!" Both instantly screeched at him, turning back to each other's throats.

Shiro raised his hands in surrender, slipping into a seat beside the stretcher.

"There's something that makes this ship special." Acxa announced, placing a helmet on her head and handing its twin to Keith. "It can only be piloted by two people who share a strong bond, physically or mentally. Sometimes both. Now, you head in that direction," she pointed to the left cockpit, "and I'll head over here." She headed for the right cockpit, sliding into a seat. "Ready, Keith."

"Why not?" Keith grunted through the coms as they simultaneously closed the doors behind them.

"Okay. Let's go."

At the exact same time, both shoved the controls forward, and the ship powered up, beginning to head for the air lock.

"Wait…this is the comet ship, isn't it?" Keith asked, and Acxa could just picture his expression.

"Indeed." Acxa used the controls connected to the airlock to open up the door. "It was created to fight Voltron in combat; but, now, we can use it to help the Voltron cause. All we need to do is head to a Rebel base that can contact the Altean Castle."

"Got it."

"Keith, run the protocol scanners for any trackers that might have been planted on by the witch."

"Nothing."

"I am certain she would have added some sort of tracker on. Reconfigure the dynamics."

"Sis, nothing is showing up."

"Hmm." Acxa fiddled with her collar, frowning to herself. "Can't risk anything. Keith, modulate the Sinko."

"Oh! There's some kind of device on the engine that doesn't belong there."

"Jakku tech." Acxa realized after the screen popped up in front of her. "Can you disable it?"

"Uh…yeah. I just have to…whoops. Okay, I managed to detonate it, but it damages the engine."

"Okay. Does anyone here have a close bond with you?"

"Well, Furita and I have gotten close, but Shiro's more of a brother to me…"

"Excellent. I'll go get him." Acxa tipped off her helmet, leaving the room. She grabbed Shiro's arm and pulled him to his feet before he could speak. "Shiro, take the controls. I'll be back in a dobosh."

She left him, stunned, and entered the engine room.

Smoke greeted Acxa, and she slipped over to the engine, coughing as she put on a gas mask.

"Ack!" She groaned, finding a huge hole in the engine. "I'll have to patch this up…goodie, this'll be 'fun'. If this doesn't get fixed…" Acxa squeezed her eyes shut, withdrawing a few shrapnels of metal from the engine's inside. "…we'll all explode." She mumbled to herself, falling into an uneasy silence as she repaired the metal gradually with welders. "I'll have to repair it properly when I get the proper materials…" she grunted to herself, dusting her hands.

She left the room, and arrived in the right cockpit, leaning against the chair lazily.

"You're a Blade?" Shiro asked after a moment, glancing up at her inquiringly.

"Duh." Acxa rolled her eyes, impersonating Keith perfectly. "Not a very good one, though. I told Keith and Pigeon-"

"-Pidge-"

"-whatever-as soon as I could. I needed someone in each cell to trust me so that I could help you escape more easily. Of course, I asked them not to tell you, because you probably wouldn't believe them without proof. I also needed to test how far Keith would go for the sake of helping you three escape, and told him not to talk to you or Pigeon about a thing."

"Pidge." Shiro corrected again. "And why'd you drop us off with so many medical supplies? Wouldn't Haggar notice?"

"Haggar KNEW dumbface." Acxa deadpanned. "I asked her BEFORE I gave you the supplies, telling her that Pidge would survive longer with them. And, of course, she took the bait."

"You used Pidge's survival as bait? You really are Galra."

"Quiznaking believe it." Acxa grunted, playing with a loose thread on his suit.

"That feels weird. Stop it."

"Fine." Acxa stopped toying with the string. "The rebel base shouldn't be too far from here," she noted, studying the GPS. "In fact, I bet you can send out an SOS right now, and it'd be picked up."

"How do you know what an SOS is?" Shiro asked suddenly, his fingers tightening around the controls.

"You ARE a idiot." Acxa huffed, shaking her head.

"Is there a class for studying Earth culture or something?"

"Not exactly, dimwit." Acxa glared. "Just send out the SOS."

Shiro tapped a few buttons, but kept his eyes on her as his fingers grazed the buttons. . . . - - - . . . He pushed in rhythm, still glaring.

Ten doboshes passed in uneventful silence. And then they heard an exasperated voice from the dashboard screen.

"This is Matt Holt of the resistance. What's the prob-?! SHIRO?!"

* * *

 **I know what y'all thinking. Not even thirty-six hours since the last update and already a new chapter?! Quiznak, who is this woman?! And after nine on a Sunday night, too!**

 **Well, quiznaking heck. Whatever. I had this chapter in my mind for a while. Not edited, too. You can probably tell.**


	15. Chapter 15

Matthew Holt rubbed his scalp, grumbling to himself. He had had a long. Boring. Day.

The most eventful thing was the news that an unscheduled ship was heading towards their base. It turned out that it was just Olia, who had forgotten to call ahead. She was gone within a Varga after picking up a few things for her ship, THE ALPHA WOLF.

The screen flashed in front of him, alerting him to another ship approaching the base. "Probably Olia coming back to get something she forgot." He decided, spinning himself around in his chair a few times. Thank goodness Aliens had created swivel chairs.

A distant tapping reached his ear, and he turned to look at the screen again. The satellite at this base was broken, and badly in need of repairs, but they lacked the proper supplies needed since, like previously stated, it was broken and they could not call for them. Eventually, when someone left the base, they had forgotten to ask Olia, that person would have to send supplies over.

And, now that he looked at the slow tapping, he realized something. Was that…morse code?! Matt had learned long ago that no aliens knew morse, so this meant that a human was sending it.

It took nine or ten minutes for Matt to get the full message, an SOS, to his upmost surprise, and for him to gather enough power to send a full signal out to them so he could live stream with the people on the ship.

"This is Matt Holt of the resistance. What's the prob-?!" Matt's words died in his throat as he spluttered. He could only see the side of the person's head, but it was very recognizable. "SHIRO?!" He gapped, shaking his head.

Shiro's head snapped to the console, his eyes wide with shock. A blue-skinned-and-haired alien stood behind him, her arms crossed, a lazy look in her eyes.

"Matt?!" Shiro responded, sounding equally shocked as his eyes distanced, as if remembering something. Probably one of this random flashbacks that Pidge had claimed he was prone to have.

Matt straightened his posture after a moment, collecting himself. Shiro had disappeared about a week ago, with Pidge. "Is my sister with you?!" He pleaded, remembering the crucial detail.

aShiro seemed to snap to the present, and he nodded. "She needs a doctor, Matt." He explained worriedly. "She's in critical condition. I don't know if-"

"Stop." Matt's voice hardened, his gaze slightly blurred. "I'll send a team to retrieve you."

He clicked off the screen; the satellite couldn't maintain the live stream much longer, and hollered through the coms for a rescue team to retrieve the people on the ship.

Half a Varga later, the ship was pulled into the hangers, and several medical agents rushed in; Matt trailed behind, his legs pumping ad his heart clenched nervously in his chest.

Matt let his feet slide across the floor, chocking on his breath when he saw his sister.

Her arms were twisted at all angles, her face scrunched with pain. Her entire head was covered with burn marks and a large gash, her neck adorned with heat blisters. Her left leg was silver, a realization that struck Matt as he stared in shock, and her clothes were stained with blood so that he couldn't decipher green from white from grey from orange. Matt couldn't even tell if sweat or blood was plastering Pidge's hair to her scalp and neck. Off to the side, the blue-skinned/haired girl from before, Keith, and Shiro were hanging to the side, their gazes flicking around nervously, looking very out of place.

A Galra girl was informing the doctors about his sister's condition, something about extraction, her pulse, and something else about Haggarium and quintessence. The blue lady added in her two-cents once in a while.

Matt watched in silence, what else could he do, as they carried his sister away on a stretcher.

After a few ticks, he decided to address the immediate problem at hand.

"Excuse me," he coughed, tugging the purple Galra female on the arm. "Where're they taking my sister?"

"Ah. You're Matt." She smiled down at him, making him slightly redden. "You look so much like her. It's the eyes. They're taking your sister into surgery. They'll be fixing up her arms and checking out her leg. We'll give you the details later. See you around!" She piped, her smile stretching across the whole width of her face. She was out the door chasing the other doctors before he could blink.

Matt then turned to the other three, the only ones left in the ship.

Shiro was looking very uncomfortable, like he wasn't very used to all the people, but he was looking at Matt, his lips pursed together in concentration.

Keith looked very pale, frowning, his hair sticking out in every direction.

The blue lady, to say the least, looked board. Her hair was hanging limply around her ears, and she sighed, obviously tired.

"Hey, guys." Matt greeted them, raising a hand in greeting. "Are you all okay?"

Shiro nodded, shrugging. "Keith and I aren't too terribly hurt; not like Katie." He smiled briefly, although his eyes remained dim. "It's good to see you, Matt."

"Yeah. You too." Matt wasn't sure what to think. Of course he was happy to see Shiro, but he was cautious about him because of the clone. The clone had always been nice to him, but, recently, EVERYBODY had heard about Kuron's sudden and swift betrayal. Everyone Matt knew was on edge because of it.

"I suppose we should get you all settled." Matt deadpanned. No matter how uncomfortable he was, Keith and Shiro looked double that. "Com'n." He motioned for them to follow him. "Haven't had much physical contact with people for a while, huh?"

"Acxa said it was just for a week." Shiro gestured to the blue lady.

"I said in EARTHLING time." Acxa snapped, crossing her arms. "In Galra time it's been at least three weeks."

Matt glanced at them, frowning. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah." Keith shrugged, not seeming like he cared, "I haven't touched anyone but Furita and a tiny bit of Pidge for the past five days."

"Who's Furita?" Matt asked, narrowing his eyes.

"She was that Galran girl female who was helping the doctors with Katie." Shiro sighed, looking a little disappointed, like he had wanted to be there for Pidge, instead.

"Ah. She was nice. A little too friendly, though." Matt noted, glancing over his shoulder at them.

Keith and Acxa were hovering close together, and Shiro was standing more to Matt's right, looking a little nervously at Acxa.

"Do you know how Katie is cooping?" Shiro asked Matt, turning his attention.

"No, I'm afraid not. Furita said she'd be fine, but I haven't heard anything else. Her leg's been replaced." Matt added the last thing, and didn't miss, although he wished he did, the pointed look Shiro and Keith gave Acxa, who shrugged, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

"I don't know if I want to know what that was all about." Matt grunted, passing by the infirmary door. He may have lingered there for a moment longer then she should have, but good came of it.

Just as Shiro, who had guessed what the room was, was reaching up his hand to gently rest his hand on Matt's shoulder, the door opened.

Furita grinned at them, closing the door behind her firmly as she swept a few locks of hair behind her ears. "She's in surgery right now. The sleeping medicine you gave her," Furita was referencing Acxa at the moment, "will keep her unconscious for another eighty-two doboshes. We gave her a shot for pain, too. Just in case. She'll be out of surgery in another Varga, so we'll give you a rundown of her condition. Go get all situated."

It wasn't until Furita slipped back into the room that Matt noticed the large indent in her arm, a bandage wrapped around it, stained red. Now that Matt looked around, he realized that Shiro and Keith had identical wounds. And Matt realized something else.

"What happened to you guys?!" Matt asked in bewilderment.

"Nothing." Keith blinked, then followed his eyes. "Ah. Yeah, Haggar wanted to use our skin and blood as a sample for something. Acxa know what it was."

"it was to trick you into thinking they were Sloven-day-ho. I believe you all discover the remains of the pod, yes? With their DNA on it, along with blood and their skin?" Acxa interrupted, but directed her question at Matt.

Matt took a half step back, arching one eyebrow at her. "That is true, most everybody thought you two were dead. Lady, aren't you…evil?" He grunted, remembering their one time meeting. She had tried to STOP him from getting his DAD. His FATHER, for goodness sakes!

"Oh." Her eyes lit with recognition. "YOU."

"Wha-?! When did you two meet?" Shiro asked, puzzled.

"When we tried to get Dad back." Matt glared, narrowing his eyes at her. "She KEPT us from him."

"Oh." Keith accented the "O" heavily. "Sorry, sis." He sympathetically patted Acxa on the back, flinching as his wounded arm moved. "looks like you're dead."

"Thank you for pointing that out." Acxa sarcastically grunted, peering down her nose at the furious Holt. "But I think I can take him."

Matt glared at her for a long moment before Shiro pressed between them.

"Matt, she's a Blade." Shiro explained, and there was a moment of tensed silence.

"Good." Matt finally spat, turning away. "Com'n, let's get this over with."

He informed them that, due to rations, the best he could do for them was permit them a ten minute shower, and some food.

"Why are you here, Matt?" Shiro asked when Keith and Acxa disappeared for some food and to talk about something unknown.

"Well…" Matt rubbed his arm awkwardly. "I actually travel to a whole bunch of different rebel bases. You see, as being THE Green Paladin's brother, I'm seen kinda as the mascot of Voltron; rebels look at me as a secondary Paladin, a icon of hope."

"Oh."

"Also, everyone expects that I'll take over as the Green Paladin if anything…happens." Matt subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck. "Which, like that…LADY said, people actually did believe that you all had passed after seeing the wreckage. That's part of the reason I was so shocked to see you. I'm actually relieved you guys didn't escape a day later, because my shift, on this planet, is over tomorrow. I'm supposed to travel to another base for two weeks, where, hopefully, I'll be able to send resources back here. Unfortunately, this base is pretty banged up when the Galra raided it one year back."

"Why's they raid it, and not destroy it completely?" Shiro asked, glancing around.

"Holy moly. You WOULDN'T know!" Matt grinned. "I want to show you and Keith this. You're gonna freak."

"I don't freak easily." Shiro deadpanned.

As usual, Matt could hear the hidden message behind the words. 'I don't freak easily anymore' was what Shiro was actually saying.

"Yeah. I know. But this is AWSOME." Matt persisted. "Why don't you shower or something while Keith's eating?"

Shiro hesitated before nodding, heading for the bathroom.

Matt fidgeted, heading for his dorm. Upon arrival, he breathed in the smokey scent, smiling slightly to himself. There was one good thing about this broken-down base.

There was always hot water.

* * *

"Keith, you're especially going to love this." Matt grinned, carefree and haven forgotten about his sister.

"I remain optimistic." Keith grunted, crossing and uncrossing his arms as he fidgeted.

Acxa grumbled something under her breath, glancing around at the hot desert, so hot that small trickles of lava ran here and there, the ground prone to burst into flames at any point.

Shiro was just amazed that the lava was only the temperature of boiling water. When he asked Matt why it didn't turn to rock, the boy only shrugged.

"I look up and to the future." Matt explained. "Not down and to the past." Matt used his foot to push aside some dried shrubbery, frowning at it.

"Is this planet Regoli?" Acxa asked, leaning down to shoved aside some dust from a rock.

"Yay. As part of the Galra empire, you probably know its history." Matt huffed.

Acxa glanced up at him, glaring. "Indeed I do. As part of the Rebels, you most likely know it's past, no matter what kind of scientist you are."

"Yep." Matt scowled back. "It's a requirement."

"So it is in the Galra empire." Acxa grunted, drawing to her full height. "I presume, then, that this base is open to tourists?"

"No it's not. It's heavily fortified, at least, it WAS until your kind came marching in." Matt spat back.

"Okay, you two. That's enough." Shiro, as unbelievable as it was, wasn't even interested in their argument. He mainly wanted everyone to be quiet.

"Like heck it is." Matt grumbled underneath his breath, shaking his head in bitterness.

"This isn't over, shrimp." Acxa snarked, tilting her nose up in a Keith-like manner.

"Duh." Matt spat back, taking offense to the 'shrimp' title.

Shiro sighed, massaging his forehead. "Please, stop."

Acxa fell back a few steps so that she stood next to Keith, and Matt realized something as he looked at them with dread.

The way both of their heads turned, breathing in the air, the way their chests rose as fell in perfect rhythm, and how they both started walking with their left foot forward-bad luck-, the way their eyes sprang towards the slightest unfamiliar noise or movement…they were mirrors of each other.

Except one was more blue, definitely more feminine, and more pretty-what was Matt THINKING?!-then the other.

Matt shook off his thoughts, leading the other three a little ways up a sand dune.

"Okay, guys, look down the hill that we just came up." He ordered as Keith and Shiro finished gaping at the view.

Both obeyed, squinting down the trail. Suddenly Keith took two steps back, looking at Matt as his mouth hung upon.

"Are you serious?!" He glared, rubbing his scalp.

Matt knew what he had seen, smirking at him. "Maybe."

Shiro noticed it a moment later, flicking his tongue. "Oh, wow. So the Galra…"

Yeah." Matt looked down the hill again, where, hardly visible, tiny carvings of a lion peeked out. "The base guarded the Red Lion for over five hundred centuries."

"So why didn't the Galra destroy the base?" Keith asked, staring down.

"Nobody knows." Matt shrugged at the same time Acxa said "The resources."

Matt blinked at her, so Acxa continued.

"You see, the Galra knew that this base wouldn't easily be forgotten or abandoned. So, instead of destroying the base, they left it alone. They planned to plants spies in the base, prisoners who were promised freedom for their services. The prisoners who gain their trust, lulling out other bases that could also house spies. You see, when one discovers an enemy base, you shouldn't destroy it. You NEED it to flush out more bases."

"Well, did they plant spies?" Keith asked, cocking his head.

"No. When you came along," she rested a hand tenderly on Keith's shoulder, "they got distracted with the prospect of Voltron returning, and immediately forgot about this outpost."

"Huh." Shiro blinked, glancing at the base. "That doesn't seem like Zarkon to get distracted."

"Well, the rebels were smart." Acxa grunted. "Instead of attacking ships to remind the Emperor of them, they stayed hidden for a few months to confirm that Voltron was back."

"Actually we were just preparing ourselves for when the Galra resumed attacking us." Grumbled Matt, frustrated with the lack of attention.

Keith and Shiro glanced at him with a look of surprise, like they had forgotten he was there.

Acxa simply rolled her eyes in disgust. "Right. Whatever. It was smart or something of y'all, no matter what the reason." She waved her hand dismissively. "It must've been about a Varga already."

Matt checked his wrist-communicator device. "When did you arrive?"

"In the thirteenth Varga since day break." Keith frowned. "That's what the ship's manual said."

Matt nodded thoughtfully, humming distantly. "Almost a Varga since Katie went into surgery, then."

"Should we go inside?" Shiro asked, glancing at the base, which was about half a mile away from where they stood. "So we can…?"

"Yeah." Matt nodded, frowning when he remembered how limply Pidge had laid, how much BLOOD had come from her body. "We should go." He nodded, leading the other three down.

Acxa grumbled something about impatience; couldn't they stay just a little while longer?

Keith stage-whispered back to her; "we usually are there for our friends, something YOU wouldn't understand."

Acxa literally hissed, her eyebrows arching as her fingers reached toward her head, pointing angrily toward him.

"Uh…" Matt and Shiro both groaned at the same time.

"Girls." Matt grumbled.

"Galra." Shiro reflected.

"Half breeds." Keith snorted.

A few moments of shocked silence.

"Keith, for the love of-!" Acxa screeched tossing her hands up in exasperation. "You're a half-breed! We're both half-breeds!"

"Yeah, and I bet we're siblings too." Keith grunted, not paying attention to his words.

"He's got you there." Matt pointed out, loving the arguments between the two.

"I thought you were part of the most brilliant family in humanity!" Acxa spat, earning eye rolls from the males. "I mean, seriously! WE ARE SIBLINGS! HOW…why…" her voice quieted. "…why are you so human?"

"Uh…" Matt blinked.

"You're…siblings?" Was Shiro's only response.

"Twins." Keith raised his hand to high-five Acxa, but she only stared at it in confusion.

"Hi…" she lifted her hand back, giving a little wave.

Keith spent the entire way back explaining to Acxa, again and again, what a high-five was. Acxa ended up being even more confused.

By the time they all arrived at the infirmary, the doctors had already changed their clothes into civilian grubs. Pidge was nowhere to be seen.

Furita waved them over; she was dressed in a rebel suit very similar to Matt's, although it lacked the brown cloth typically wrapped around the rebels' necks. Her hair was braided, stretching to the middle of her back, her bangs covering her forehead.

"Hey, you four." She frowned, looking very worried. "I won't…beat around the bush, is it? Instead I'll…cut straight to the face-"

"-chase, Furita-"

"-straight to the chase. Pidge is in terrible shape, it's true. There may be only one piece of good news. Maybe two depending on how you divide it. The first is that she is alive. The second is that she isn't as bad off as an experienced doctor would say from first glance."

"Comforting." Acxa grunted, not sounding comforted…well, not sounding ANYTHING at all.

"Thank you for your support." Furita dryly shot back.

Acxa's mouth drew back into a snarl, and Matt wondered how they didn't notice instantly how alike she and Keith were.

"Girls." Shiro broke in sharply, then turned to Furita. "Please. Continue."

"Well, her injuries consisted of this; her robotic leg was constantly poisoning her, giving her fairly small doses of Prokon every two Vargas, hardly…what do you earthlings call it…a pinch? We call it a gawm. In short we removed her left leg. Her left eye was blind, and her cheek bones were broken. Her other eye was badly effected, but, when you eventually can get her into a healing pod, as you undoubtedly will at the castle, it should heal her completely. Anyway, her arms were broken, dislocated, sprained, and almost any other injury you can imagine."

Shiro bowed his head at Furita's words, angry at himself for being so honorable. If only he hadn't kept his word, protected her…

That's when the scream broke into his thoughts.

* * *

 **Hi, everybody! Oh my goodness, I updated A FULL DAY before schedule! I'm so pumped!**

 **Ahem. Now, reverting back to the hopefully mature, calm woman I am, thank you all for reading; I love y'all so much!**

 **More Kogane/Buffet (I don't know their last name) activity in next chapters.**


	16. Chapter 16

Acxa reached her hand into the engine, feeling a puff of smoke billow out and cover her face with ash. She let out a cough before readjusting her goggles.

Pidge had woken up a Varga before, basically blind and under the impression that Haggar was experimenting on her. Shiro, Matt, and Furita were with her now, the boys doing their best to stop her screams, and Furita, her hallucinations.

Keith was standing behind Acxa handing her some spare tools that were in the cargo area in the ship. Acxa was doing her best to repair the engine more thoroughly, but she suspected she would be forced to change the entire thing. She might as well repair everything she could, because it'd be expensive to replace it.

"Keith, hand me the Cranous."

"I don't know what that is." Her brother responded, adjusting the tools so he could see them better.

"It's shaped like a screwdriver, but it's more of a drill."

"This?" Keith held up a screw driver that could rotate its point.

"Yeah." Acxa held out her free hand, and he pressed the weapon into her palm. "Thanks."

Keith nodded and began to play with a loose screw on the wall.

Acxa used the Cranous to take out the screws from the wall of the engine, revealing the inside. She did through it, sorting out the wires and cleaning the gears.

"Keith, take this." She handed him several snapped wires and a few rusty switches.

"What do you want me to do with them?"

"What happened to the twin connection?" Acxa grumped under her breath. "Take them down to this base's workers and see if they have spares."

Keith nodded and field from the room as Acxa connected a few sites together.

Acxa sat back in relief when he was gone. She needed to be alone with her thoughts.

Haggar still haunted her thoughts, her cackling always echoing in the teenager's ears. Ever since Haggar told her about her magical possessions, Acxa had been scared of the much oldest woman in the universe.

Acxa sighed, shaking her head. Instead of clearing the thoughts, she remembered the Green Paladin's face clenched with the pain that Acxa had unforced upon her, and the older women grunted to herself.

Acxa let her fingers glide through the machinery, frowning to herself. She felt guilty for everything; SHE had removed Pidge's leg, SHE had stolen the scultrite for Lotor's ship, this betraying Keith, SHE had remembered who Pidge's dad was and used it to her advantage. She had done, almost single-handedly, everything that had broken the Paladins' plans of freedom and dragged their attempts back.

Keith found her deep in thought a few minutes later when he returned, crouching beside her silently.

Acxa broke from her trance, watching him through narrowed eyes. "Is Dad dead?" She inquired, her eyes pleading him to tell him the truth.

After a moment's hesitation Keith nodded grimly. "He has a tombstone and everything. He died in a car crash."

"Do you know what his last words are?" Acxa asked, digging her fingers into the machine and replacing the wires.

"Yeah. Somebody who witnessed the crash got to Dad right before he died. He called 911 first, and then went to him. But by the time he got to the car, Dad had already lost too much blood. Dad was no fool, he said his last words right then and there. The dude was able to track me down and tell them to me. They make no sense, but the guy assured me those WERE his last words. Even now that I met you they make no sense."

"What were they?"

"'Tell my sons I love them'. From what you've told me, Mom had told you almost everything that she remembers about Earth, Dad and I. Do we have a brother?!"

"Not that I'm aware of. Its entirety possible, though. Maybe half-brother, a miscarriage, a brother who left home before we were born, caught cancer and died or something else tragic."

"We'll have to ask Mom."

"Flokon." Acxa held out her hand, and, as Keith dropped in a few connectors, continued. "Yeah, I suppose so. Can you tell me everything you know about Dad? I never knew him; don't even know what he looks like."

"Japanese-American. He had jet-black hair, and a small scar on his right eyebrow. He was really pale and in his late thirties, early forties. Uh, beard stubble on the bottom of his chin. I dunno, you'd have to see him."

Acxa grunted in response, reaching through the net of wires to the reactor in the center of the engine. She pulled out a long shrapnel of metal from the center, and grimaced. The reactor was probably toast.

"What'er you doing?" Keith questioned as he rested a hand on her shoulder and leaned over her to get a better look at the core reactor.

"Honestly, I don't know." Acxa admitted, grabbing a winch from the ground beside her and carefully poking her ways towards the back of the engine. "I'm just doing what seems natural. I'll more likely then not blow something up."

"It sure smells like you already did." Keith deadpanned, pinching his nostrils.

"Thank you for summing that up." Acxa grumbled, withdrawing her arm, which was black with smoke up to the elbow. "Probably shoulda worn my armor…"

"Yeah. Maybe." Keith agreed, taking a step back. "Oh, by the way, when I was over there," he jerked his thumb toward the door, "I met Matt. He told me that they're planning on leaving for Olkarion sooner then expected. Probably in the next hour."

"My ship won't be able to leave by that time." Acxa groaned, shaking her head as she coughed. After she was done, she continued. "So I suppose I'll stay here for a while."

"Then I will wait, too." Keith confided, raising his head to look at her. "After all, family sticks together, right?"

"R

* * *

ight." Acxa nodded, although from her experience, family split apart and broke and eventually got destroyed. "Together." Acxa hissed, glaring at her palms.

"You okay?"

"Just a little tired. I haven't slept in a week, and I'm not tired enough TO sleep."

"Woah. That can't be healthy."

"It's not." Acxa sighed, resting her head in her hands. "I'm surprised I haven't just dropped off yet…"

"Well…do you know why?"

Acxa perked up at this, tilting her head. Then her shoulders slouched as she grunted. "Yeah, I think I do. Apparently I have-" -air quotes- "-magical properties. Haggar forced me to absorb a large amount of quintessence, and I guess I'm still charged up." Acxa let her hands lay on the floor as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Keith hesitantly wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and held her close. "Just try to sleep." He soothed. Actually, he was a little embarrassed by Acxa's willingness to lean into his embrace.

"M'kay…" she sighed, nestling a big more into the nook of his arm. "I'll…" that's as far as she got before her breath evened out.

* * *

Two Vargas later, Matt, Shiro, Furita, and Pidge were gone in a rebel ship, Acxa was back to work, and the rebels had asked Keith to monitor the sensors.

Acxa drummed her fingers against the engine, frowning. It wasn't flight ready text so it certainly wasn't perfect, but it wasn't the worst thing Acxa had seen either. That reward went to Haggar's skin and blood samples.

Acxa stood, walking over to her gun. She took it out from its charger on the wall and went to find her brother, who was probably sitting in the control room. Acxa nodded to the rebels that she passed, there was only about thirty-two in the whole base, and they looked at her sideways because she was Galra.

Acxa eventually, she was too proud to ask for directions, found her way to Keith sitting with a PLOP beside him.

"Hey." He greeted her.

"Hey." She greeted him.

"So."

"So."

"That's annoying, kid." Keith grumbled, as he crossed his arms, his gaze meeting hers.

"You can't call me kid." Acxa interjected, staring into her brother's eyes.

"Can. I'm older." Keith reminded her, jerked a thumb towards himself.

In response, Acxa crossed her arms and glared, jutting out her lip at him. Acxa let her eyes drift around the room, taking in the hundreds of wires streamed across the floor, the random box of rebel outfits, the glitchy screens and the bright purple insignia on the middle one…hold up.

"What's that?" Acxa asked, leaning past Keith to point. The symbol was one of a-

"That's a Galra ship." Keith shrugged, then did a double take. "Hold up…crab nuggets."

"Oh, quiznak." Acxa groaned, face palming.

"Attention, rebel fighters!" Keith grabbed the microphone that was connected to the coms, practically, physically, actually, screaming into it. "We are going to be under attack! Get to your ships and prepare yourself!"

"We only have five ships, disclosing the comet ship which isn't flight ready yet." Acxa realized, tearing the speaker from Keith, "scratch the order to head for your ships, head for the underground bunker, that's an order! If there's any sick or injured help them below! We'll discuss a plan of attack there."

Keith grabbed Acxa's wrist and pulled her away from the room, tearing down the halls. Acxa could hear the explosion that had hit the base ring behind her, and she winced. If only Galra didn't have two eardrums, the sound may be much more bearable.

"Let go of my hand!" Axca glared, ripping her hand from her brother.

"In here!" Keith screeched, pointing for a room where they could catch their breath.

After a moment, they heard fighters, maybe hundreds of them, scrambling above them, preparing to launch bombs.

Keith sucked in as much air as he could, taking Acxa's wrist again.

"Stop taking my hand!" She wheezed, snatching it away as she let out a burst of coughs. The smoke had not done her any favors.

They tore across the halls, Acca crossing her fingers and praying to God that the ships, that were a floor below ground level and hidden by cliffs, would not be blown up.

Keith and Acxa were the last to arrive at the bunker, three stories underground. Acxa slid the deadbolt behind her, hating her mild case of asthma.

"Is everyone here?!" Keith called, his eyes searching the group.

Calls of "yes", "indeed", and "thank you for asking, Earthling," rippled through the crowd.

"I recognized the bar code." Acxa rasped, crossing her arms defiantly. "That was Haggar's ship."

A few gasps of terror sounded.

"How can we fight the witch?!" A few murmured uncertainty.

"You have us." Keith resoonded, grabbing Acxa's wrist and holding up her hand. "And we'll make sure to help you through…friggin' quiznak… Acxa, you're better at this kind of stuff then me. Take it away."

Acxa cleared her throat, and began. "We are out gunned, quite literally, for I believe I have the only gun right now, but we are not outmanned. On that ship there is only about ten living beings, dozens, maybe hundreds of sentries, yes, but they are dumb. They are remarkably easy to take care of if you know how."

There was an unsure grumble among the rebels, and finally one pointed his finger accusingly at her. "How can we trust you?! Or your godforsaken brother?! You both have Galra blood in your veins, you could betray us to your kind!"

"Us?!"

"Betray you to humans?!" Keith fake gasped. "Why, I never!"

Boos shook the crowd, cries of "yeah, why would we trust you?!" echoing around.

Acxa once more took the lead. "You don't have a choice. You can either not trust us a lose to the Galra, or trust us and win victorious. Choice is yours."

There was a hesitation.

Finally someone stepped forward, offering their hand to the siblings in a gesture of peace.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rebel ship containing the two Paladins, Matt, and Furita was well on its way to Olkarion.

Furita sat by Pidge, monitoring her pulse constantly, as the smallest female turned her head from side to side, each turn taking ten-fifteen ticks. Up ahead, Matt and Shiro took turns piloting the ship, the one off duty sitting next to Pidge and repeating that everything was all right as she tilted her left ear, her right one was damaged, towards them.

Shiro lay one hand in her lap when it was his turn, speaking quietly with Furita.

"How long into her hallucinations wear off?"

"Probably a Varga or two." Furita responded. "But it's actually protecting her from the pain. Once it wears off, she'll be in a universe of pain."

Shiro nodded slowly, looking at Pidge. "Why didn't the lions come for us?" He wondered aloud, staring at Katie.

"Didn't you guys say something about the cells cancelling magic?" Furita asked, staring at Pidge and checking her faint pulse. Before Shiro could respond the Galra female forged ahead. "Well, from what I've heard, the Lions' bonds to you are magic."

Shiro seemed slightly surprised she had heard his words. "That makes sense." He finally managed, nodding. "How far are we from Olkarion?" Shiro inquired, his question pointed at Matt.

"A lightyear away." Matt sighed in relief. "So we should be there in…a quarter of a Varga."

"I'm not sure Pidge has that long." Furita admitted, looking back at the young Paladin.

Pidge looked like a mummy, bandages wrapped everywhere, covering every possible surface, including her hair. The bandage covering her left leg stump was soaked with blood, as was her arms and head bandages.

Matt and Shiro switched, the former taking a seat beside his sister.

Matt let his foot tap rhythmically to an old theme song that he hoped Pidge would recognize and comment on. He just wanted his little sister to say something sensible, not just random cries for an invisible persecutor or stop.

Pidge tilted her head towards him, and Furita smiled. "She likes the tune. What is it?"

"It's from a TV show; Gravity Falls. I haven't watched it for two years."

Furita nodded and pressed her hand gently to Pidge's arm, part of which had a very thin layer of bandages to make monitoring her pulse easier.

A few minutes later, Olkarion came into view. Matt sat down in the pilot's chair, leaning forward. He communicated Ryner, and felt relieved when her face appeared.

"Hello, young Earthling." Ryner greeted him, a tired smile spreading across her face.

"Ryner, is that Matt?" An equally exhausted voice asked, Allura's face flickering into view behind the leader.

"Indeed." Ryner nodded.

"O. M. Goodness!" Matt gasped, a relieved look spanning his expression. "Allura, you're…never quiznaking mind! Please, prepare a pod! I have the missing guys here."

"But they were proclaimed dead-!"

"Less talking, Allura, PLEASE we need a healing pod! Pidge may die!"

Pidge was unconscious on the chair, her head leaning against the wall. She may very well not make it, all three of her companions knew.

"Allura!" Matt begged again, but the princess was already gone, fleeing towards the castle.

Matt sagged with mild relief into his chair, blinking as he eased his ship in for approach. Furita clung onto Pidge, pulling her with no grace into her lap as she put the seatbelt on top of both of them, thank goodness both were so petite, gasping as the ship's gravity pointed toward the ship's rear.

Shiro clung onto his chair's arms; no matter how many times he went through this he would never be used to it.

Matt settled the ship down gently, pursing his lips as he blinked, standing up quickly as he headed over to the girls and Shiro.

Furita and Shiro were unbuckling, both looking slightly dizzy.

Matt waved them out, pushing a button to open the door to the ship, opening into the hanger.

Furita clasping his sister to his chest, blinking at the sudden sunlight and smiling slightly as she felt Pidge's pulse. Light, faint, but there.

Shiro bit the inside of his lip, frowning at the bandaged Pidge. He felt anger rise up inside of him, seeing her limp figure. There was still a good chance of her dying before they got her to a Cryo-pod, but…

Allura was waiting for them outside the hanger, flanked closely by Lotor and Lance.

Allura frowned at them, sighing. "Where's Keith?" She asked, alarm crossing her gaze.

"He's at the rebel base we just came from." Matt assured them.

"And you must be Furita." Allura greeted the Galra girl with a slight smile.

"I am." Furita nodded, adjusting Pidge so that she could clutch Allura's elbow.

Allura then turned to Shiro, offering a mild nod. Oh, how much she YEARNED to trust him, but the Operation Kuron had torn the team's trust of him.

She and Lotor turned, Matt and Furita trailed after them with Pidge.

Before Shiro could move, Lance squeezed him in a hug.

"Thank the Lord you're okay!" The younger Paladin grinned when he eventually pulled away.

Shiro was blinking in surprised by the startling physical contact, his injured human arm burning from where Lance had grazed it. His right arm still lay limp at his side, his face glazed with pain.

Lance blinked at him, taking in his features, everything clenching up. Lance crossed his arms, glaring at him from behind narrowed eyes. "Okay, that's it. We are getting you to a pod as well."

"Ugh, I am sure I hold the record for being the person who most often goes into the pods." Shiro groaned, gently cradling his right arm.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Lance grinned, always one for a joke. "Com'n, let's go,"

Shiro nodded and followed him, unaware of the death battle going on at the base they had left only a few Vargas ago.


	17. Chapter 17

"Keith, take your team and move to the left, sentries are checking the grounds for survivors, and you shouldn't be in their way. Konna, do you think y'all can burrow beneath the sentries' feet? And make them think it was just unstable ground?" Acxa asked, keeping two fingers pressed against the comm in her ear as she studied the gridded map screen that some smart rebel was able to save.

"Okay, sis. They passed right past us." Keith told her, and his sister could imagine him crossing his arms as he peered out of the hiding place he probably had found.

"Who do you thing you're talking to?" Konna giggled, the sounds of broken metal and dirt being shoved around echoing through the comm link. "We'll be done in a dobsosh or two."

"M'kay." Acxa nodded. "Tally, how're the defective coming along?"

"Can you not call them that?" Tally asked, groaning. "It's so…unprofessional. They're simply injured. Crippled. Just call them 'those crippled'. But yes, all are alive."

Acxa rolled her eyes at the invisible Tally but smiled, her lips drawn back so that her fangs were revealed. She liked smiling like this, she looked threatening. "Kile, how's the engine coming along?"

"Well," Kile hesitated, grunting for a second as he was reaching for a tool. "It's coming along fine. We got our hands on a clocking device a while back, so we only need to install that."

"Thank, you Kile. Comm me when you're done." Acxa told him, sitting in silence as she waited to be called back.

She watched the screen as the red dots, Keith's team, traveled across the ruins, heading for some sentries. The green dots, Konna's team, were blurry as they moved towards the same sentries to tunnel them in.

The plan was simple; they attack the sentries until the Galra ship emptied out almost completely. Then, they would bring the cloaked comet ship into the ship and go in; guns blazing. Acxa didn't believe they'd make it that far, so she hadn't decided on what would happen next.

The red dots scooted to the side as the green dots blending with the purple dots, the Galra.

"Keith." Acxa contacted her brother blinking. "Move in for the kill. Konna, head for the next group."

"Yes Ma'am!" Keith nodded, and the green dots place next to the sentries were replaced by Keith's squadron.

"Moving on," Konna reported as her group switched to the right, making quick work as they tunneled.

Acxa pulled up another screen, showing a live video of the ship. It was obviously planning to land, it's landing gear beginning to come from it's underside.

"Keith, Konna, get back to the base, it's landing, sooner then expected!" Acxa suddenly loved the rebel, Frim, who had placed the camera outside the barracks.

"Coming."

"We'll be back in a tick."

A few moments later, Keith and Konna's teams came pounding down the destroyed steps, opening up the door and locking it securely behind them.

"It was kicking up dust something awful right before we came in." Konna hissed, her suit and fur thick with dust to illustrate her point.

Keith shook our his mullet, letting his black locks fall back into his shoulders and neck. "Okay, who're the most able fighters here?" He demanded, during the rebels.

"I have a staff." A young, probably twelve-year old girl stepped up.I was part of the base's original garrison. "And I had several brothers, so I'm used to blood, gore, and fighting."

"What's your name?" Keith asked, crossing his arms.

"Awtum." She blinked.

"Good. Anyone else?"

"I'm skilled in martial arts." Someone said.

"My brother Paidin." Awtum puffed proudly as a young man who looked just like her stepped up.

Both of the siblings had a purple mop of hair, and green skin with purple spots here and there. Their eyes looked surprisingly like blue human eyes. They looked plainly human, in fact, except for the color change and furry ears. Their species was Crono.

"Good. Anyone else?" Axca asked, and, when no one else stepped forward, nodded. "Awtum, Paidin, I'm leaving you two in charge. Keith and I have some unfinished business to attend. Let's go, big bro."

Keith saluted the rebels, who saluted back. Then he followed his sister from the building.

"Okay. First things first." Acxa nodded, withdrawing her gun from its holster. She wrapped one hand around Keith, and he, hesitantly, held onto her tightly, unsure of where she was going with this.

Acxa switched the setting on her gun from 'stun' to 'grappling gun'. She pointed it to part of the wall, releasing the hook as it buzzed through the air, pinning the side of the ship. It tightened, then she inserted the setting that connected her gun to her armor, making it impossible to tear the gun from her without tearing away the gauntlet, too.

Acxa pressed a button and the gun pulled the twins to the spot on the side of the ship, just above the doors.

Keith withdrew his knife, catching on to her plan.

His sister pointed to a place about a yard from where she was, but a foot from Keith.

Keith dug his knife into the area, which opened up into a ventilation shaft. He cut a large piece of metal from the area, just big enough for him to fit through.

The metal that he had cut away fell to the ground, dust rising from it. Keith and Acxa flattened against the ship, relieved for the curve of the ship that hid them from view.

A few sentries glanced up from their spot beside the door, searching for biorhythms. When no life signals showed up on the scanners, their metal minds defeated the 'incident' from their memories, and that was the end of that.

Axca and Keith squeezed into the ventilation shafts, a tight fit. It was times like this that they wished Pidge was with them. The kid could fit into anything!

They crept along, Acxa checking her gauntlet's map after every turn. After a few moments, they heard someone.

"Zethrid…how long did Haggar say we would stay on this Zarkonforsaken planet?" That was Ezor's voice.

Acxa and Keith paused. Keith was a few feet ahead of Acxa, his sister whispering instructions to him. But this time, they shared a mind connection, stopping without communicating.

"Until we find the escaped prisoners, and Acxa." Zethrid responded. "I still don't get how the prisoners, weak as they were, managed to capture Acxa, escape, and on top of that, manage to steal most of Haggar's chemicals and books."

Acxa and Keith managed to meet each other's eyes, and, in silent agreement, Acxa began to back pedal until she got to the opening where they had entered.

She crept along the side of the ship until she was out of view from the sentries. Then she jet packed onto the ground, dirtying her face and finding a sharp piece of metal to cut herself open. She stumbled into view of the sentries, feigning exhaustion and a limp.

The guards recognized her face, and led her into the ship.

Keith was still positioned at the ventilation shaft above the two other generals. She could see the glint of his eyes.

Acxa was embraced by Zethrid and Ezor, both of them trembling.

"What happened? When did you get back? You're hurt!" Both girls cried at her, and Acxa smiled.

She forced her voice to sound hoarse as she replied. "They captured me and brought me here. I was put in a bunker with everyone when the attack started. I'm the only survivor. I got back just now."

"How did they capture you?" Ezor asked, her fingers curling around Acxa's waist.

"Well, the probably got the keys from a drunk guard. The knocked me unconscious when I came to check on them, and…" Acxa continued with a surprising accurate story, her eyes drifting up to meet Keith's.

Keith nodded, his head disappearing from view as he headed probably for Haggar's lab.

"May I see Haggar?" Acxa asked, biting her lip. "She may be able to help with my injuries."

"Of course! And are you walking like that? Lean on me!" Zethrid ordered, practically dragging Acxa along. (Definitely NOT letting her lean on the bigger general.)

After a few moments of silence, they arrived at Haggar's lab door, and Ezor knocked lightly.

The doors blew open, revealing Haggar circling her lab, organized the remains of the supplies Acxa had left in her wake.

A wall of quintessence, a few jars of Prokon, Mella, and other such substances, and one or two books.

Haggar glanced up when they arrived, blinking at them, before motioning them in.

"Welcome, Acxa." Haggar spoke in a gravelly tone, motioning for the other two to leave. "You two are dismissed."

Ezor and Zethrid disappeared from the room in a hurry, and the doors closed, locking behind them.

"Care to explain?" Haggar wasted no time in greetings, pulling down a screen of Acxa releasing the Paladins and stealing the chemicals. "Wait, instead, save your breath. I know that YOU'RE the traitor." Haggar spat the last word like it was poison on her tongue. "And I know something else."

Acxa didn't move, instead, she prepared the courage to grab her gun and fire mercilessly.

"You share a bond with the make Blade. Who's currently right on top of me." Haggar wasted no other words, a sudden burst of magic surging from her fingers into the ceiling, breaking straight into the ventilation shafts.

Acxa fired, her gun set to kill.

Haggar dodged expertly, Keith collapsing to the ground as he gasped for breath.

"You are stronger then I thought!" Haggar taunted the twins, charging up another bolt as Acxa took aim and Keith drew his blade as he staggered to his feet. "But that will soon be for naught."

A loud thumping on the door signaled that Ezor and Zethrid heard the battle and wanted to know what was happening.

All three ignored it.

Acxa and Haggar fired at the same time, Acxa's blast striking Haggar on the arm and Haggar catching both twins and sending them into the middle of the quintessence wall.

Yellow glop poured onto the siblings, covering both of them from head to toe. Hardly a square inch wasn't golden yellow.

Acxa panted, glass burrowing into her cheeks and forehead.

Keith had already recovered, glaring at Haggar.

Obviously blasting them into the wall was an accident by the way she was staring in shock at them.

"No! No!" She screeched, clutching her head as she glared at them. "No! No!"

Acxa had been taught since a very young age all about quintessence, and understood the powers it held.

It made sense why Haggar loved and feared the substance.

Acxa cocked her gun, still fighting back screams of pain as she felt the quintessence begin to absorb into her face and into her gun, a large ball of energy building up. This blast would have the power of an Ion canon, easily.

Keith's sword grew in his hand as he began to get angry at Haggar, his hatred bubbling over the top for the witch. His sword absorbed the quintessence on his arm, growing to twice it's normal size. Keith states at it in shock, only looking up when

"You fools! Do you know what could happen to you and your weapons?" Haggar cried, obviously oblivious that Acxa was taking aim.

She noticed just as the ion blast was inches from her face.

"Oh!" She screamed, her head tilting back as she was knocked into unconsciousness. Or perhaps, if they were lucky, into death.

Acxa checked for a pulse, confirming that she was alive while Keith stared in utter shock at his blade, not paying attention to his sister. Idiotic of him, but at least Haggar wasn't a threat anymore.

However, at the exact moment Acxa drew back at Haggar, the door blasted open, and Zethrid and Ezor stormed in, weapons in hand.

"Acxa!? What-!? Haggar-!?" Ezor wailed, then spotted Keith. "Who're-!?"

Keith recovered from his shock within ticks, his blade flashing. Before either woman could react, he drew his blade across each of their backs, injuring them both enough to make them collapse.

Keith and Acxa stated at them in shock, both panting, the quintessence starting to burn them everywhere.

"Keith." Acxa hummed, her throat sore. "I think they were fine."

"Whatever." Keith rolled his eyes, turning away. He fell on his knees, eyeing them. "Acxa, you're a scientist on… quintessence." The last words came as gasps for breath as he forced himself to speak. "…what's…happening?"

"I don't…" Acxa leaned against the wall, shaking her head. "I'm…not…sure…"

Suddenly their coms beeped.

"Hi, paging the half breed twins. This is Awtum."

"This…is…Acxa…"

"Are you okay…? Oh, never mind. It appears the Castle of Lions just entered the atmosphere!"


	18. Chapter 18

Shiro, before he had slipped into unconsciousness, had given the princess the coordinates to the Rebel base, and the castle had contacted the base as best as they were able when they saw the ruins, hoping against hope that the Rebels were alive and that the Galra ship parked admit the junk was taken over by them.

The got in cumminatioms with Paidin and told him that they were landing.

Allura and Lance went into the Galra base cautiously, and discovered Acxa and Keith huddled together in one corner, drenched with quintessence, and Ezor and Zethrid bleeding opposite them.

Keith, after several tries, was able to tell them what happened, and that Haggar had been there next to them, but had suddenly disappeared a dobosh or two beforehand.

It turned out that the quintessence hadn't harmed the twins very much, nor did Haggar's blast, the quintessence healing most of the damage.

They put Zethrid and Ezor into a cell after applying bandages to their wounds, to Acxa's hesitant institutions.

The rebels who were the most injured and sick were stuck in healing pods.

Acxa and Keith simply needed to clean up, and was accompanied with Allura to the spa where they could get cleaned up. There was a different rooms for each gender, filled with small pools, hot tubs, bars of soap, massager robots, and, of course, soft luxurious robes. At least, that's what Allura said. They weren't actually there yet.

While they walked, they, best they could in their state, explained everything to a baffled Allura, who wondered how both of them were still functional.

Suddenly Acxa raised her head, and, before either could blink, lowered herself to one knee, one fist planted over her chest, her face lowered.

Lotor had just walked into the hallway, one eyebrow raised at her covered in yellow…muck. Then he saw Keith in much the same way, and Allura smiling helplessly at him as she shrugged.

"Lotor, shall I…leave you two…?" Allura asked, sidestepping around Acxa.

"That would be preferable, Princess. Thank you abundantly." Lotor nodded as his fellow Altean grabbing Keith's hand and tried to pull him from the room.

"Keith." Allura hummed calmly when he wouldn't budge.

"Lotor." Keith had heard all about Narti, and he met Lotor with a cool glare. "If you lay…one finger on…Acxa…I'll tear…you…Limb.…From.…LIMB."

Lotor blinked, surprised. He had never heard such a thing before. Earthlings were strange.

Keith didn't leave any room for questions, instead following Allura without lagging behind.

Acxa kept her head lowered, but Lotor could recognize the top of her head, except now it was yellowish-blue. Green.

But Lotor, even though he was raised to be a soldier, a leader, not a friend or someone who noticed other's sufferings, noticed the way Acxa's shoulders clenched and shivered, from fear. She was holding back sobs of terror, Lotor knew.

She was scared of death.

That was a first.

Lotor kneeled in front of her, taking her chin in between his palms. He forced her head to tilt towards him, and he gently rested his own chin on her forehead, a common greeting to an equal.

He had never, besides Allura, referred to ANYONE as his equal. He wondered why he did it now. Maybe it was a way of showing that he cared about her, a way of putting down his sword in surrender.

Acxa blinked in surprise as he pulled back; it was something never done to her. Not even by her mother.

"Lotor…I'm sorry…"

"It's fine." Lotor interrupted. "You were doing what you thought was right. I completely understand, and I do forgive you." He placed a hand on her head and closed his eyes. "I respect you as a sister, Acxa. I would NEVER do away with you. Not like Narti. And you may rise."

Acxa nodded, drawing herself to her full height. She was noticeably shorter then Lotor, but there was a…tallness Lotor hadn't seen before. He couldn't explain it, but…

"Take care, Acxa." He told her, leaving her behind on the hall way. He was worried, honestly. That much exposure to quintessence…he shook his head, drowning out the thought.

Instead he sent out signals to two certain Galra, Krolia and Kolivan. The message was simple; YOUR CHILDREN ARE HERE.

* * *

Acxa and Keith had cleaned up and were on their way to the lounge when Krolia arrived.

It took her three seconds to gather Keith in a hug, yelling at him. "When I said that they were your family, and to go back, I didn't mean to be captured by the cursed witch and be tortured! I was so worried, but Kolivan told me to…" Krolia's words trailed off as her gaze flickered to Acxa, who was watching her in shock.

"Acxa…?" Krolia murmured, and her daughter took a half step back.

"Mum?" Acxa asked, and, before she could blink, was wrapped up in a big with her brother and mother.

"How did you two find each other? What happened to you? You look different."

At this both twins perked up. "What do you mean?

"Um." Krolia traced a finger over their cheekbones, inhaling deeply. "Why don't you look at each other and tell me?"

Keith looked at Acxa, doing a double take. One of her eyes was a clear white, and her blue iris had softened to a human grayish-purple. A tenth of her face was tan, not her normal blue, and a large section of her hair was now Raven black, like his.

Acxa, in the meantime, was staring at him just as strangely. He had a long stretch of blue painted on his skin, his right eye a bright yellow, glowing with a blue iris. And a third of his hair was blue.

As if mirroring each other, both pointed to the other's mark and stated, rather loudly, "Weird."

Korlia tossed back her head and laughed. "You had those when you were born! They faded due to mysterious reasons when you two were two years of age. I never thought I'd see them again." She hugged them close once more, smiling slightly.

"I remember you telling me that." Acxa piped up, tracing her fingers lightly over her mark.

"I…Dad had said I had a birthmark but…" Keith whispered, then buried his face in his mother's chest. "Let's agree not to ever separate again." Keith pleaded, his fingers digging into Krolia's shirt.

"Of course, sweetie." Krolia kissed the top of his head, smiling sweetly.

"I missed you two so much." Acxa whispered, remembering how many times she had yearned for them so much she had been tempted to end her own life right then and there. She never did, of course, but…she had put her gun to her head too many times to count.

Krolia kissed Acxa's forehead as if sending her pain.

Finally.

At long last, she had both her children next to her. All that was missing was her husband and they'd be a complete family.

* * *

Shiro stumbled from the pod, reaching out this right hand to catch himself. It turned out to be a mistake as pain shot up his arm.

Instead of stumbling forward like he was expecting, he was caught by two pairs of hands dropped onto his shoulders, steading him.

Shiro quickly recovered, raising himself to his full height before meeting two yellow eyes and two human eyes. Wait…

"What in the cosmos," Shiro gaped, staring with shock, "happened to you?" He asked, gesturing to the Kogane twins' marks and color scheme.

The other Paladins, who had witnessed the change a few Vargas back, laughed.

Keith and Acxa exchanged a look, shrugging.

"Quintessence does some very powerful things." Keith shrugged, biting his lip.

"Let's just say that Haggar got away." Acxa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "'Cause she did."

Shiro wasn't sure what he was supposed to react to this, so he kept quiet.

A few doboshes later, they all say down to the table to eat.

"How long until Pidge gets out?" Shiro asked, glancing around the table.

"Another Varga at least." Hunk explained, worry playing in his gaze as he set the tacos on the table.

Lance perked up, grinning. "Furita woke up just before you, and Kolivan took her somewhere else in the castle to speak to her."

The room fell into silence as they all thought for a moment about everything that happened.

"I don't believe we've been introduced." Krolia broke the silence, sliding into the seat next to Shiro and blinking kindly at him. "I'm Acxa and Keith's mother, Krolia."

"I've heard about you." Shiro nodded, clutching her elbow in greeting. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's my pleasure." She nodded, eyeing, but careful not to stare, at the color of his hair and the way his jaw sloped. The jagged turn of his jaw, his smile. His eyes, though. It was his EYES. They were like…NO.

It couldn't be…

Krolia released his hand suddenly, refusing to touch or look at him a second longer, or she would end up staring.

Shiro didn't seem to notice her franticness to get away from him, nobody did. Except Keith.

Her son stared at her uncertainly, then glanced at Shiro. What in the world was going on? Keith didn't get a chance to speak, for Lotor broke in.

"What are we to do with Ezor and Zethrid?" He inquired, crossing his arms and setting them atop the table. "They're still in the cell."

"Let me talk to them." Acxa instructed. "I bet I can convince them what cause is right." She pushed herself up, and, after receiving a wave of the hand from Lotor, left the room.

She walked quietly yet quickly down the halls until she arrived at the brig.

The prison's walls were a substance similar to glass, except it could disappear with the press of a button but it was still a touch substance. There was a single metal bed in the room, with no blankets and a raised part on the bunk provided a pillow.

Zethrid was sitting on the bed, and Ezor…where the quiznak WAS Ezor?! She was probably in her invisible form.

"Hello, girls." Acxa greeted them, resting on me hand against the glass as Zethrid raised her head and as Ezor shimmered into view.

"Acxa." Ezor frowned at said general, taking a hesitant step back.

"Explain why we're in this Zarkonforsaken cell." Zethrid commanded.

'Right.' Acxa recalled, crossing her arms. 'They heard me battling with Haggar, and saw me with Keith. And then Keith attacked them which led to them being here. Of course they don't trust me.' Out loud, she explained to them what happened, the misunderstanding with Keith, and why they were here. "Now," she proceeded, raising her head. "I'm to get you out. IF you accept the Paladins as teammates."

"And Lotor." Ezor interrupted, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes." Acxa was careful with her words. She already had the sinking feeling that they wouldn't agree.

"I had a HUGE crush on Lotor for the longest time." Ezor began, pacing as her long tentacle trailed behind her. "I honored him as a brother, as my king. And then…"

"He killed Narti!" Zethrid punched the cell wall in anger, tears of frustration pouring down her cheeks. "Explain THAT to us, Acxa."

"NARTI WAS A QUIZNAKING TRAITOR TO HAGGAR!" Acxa thundered, anger overwhelming her. "LOTOR DID WHAT HE HAD TO! WEREN'T YOU LISTENING?!"

"I don't care! She was our friend. She was your ally, too, Acxa." Ezor pouted, slightly lowering herself so that she looked Acxa in the eye. "Don't forget that."

Acxa spat venom at them, stalking away. She let her footsteps echo loudly against the floor, one hand pressed to her forehead as she moved. What, oh WHAT would Lotor do with them?

She heard a voice as she walked. Curious, she slowed her step, pressing her ear to the door that it came from, blinking at the sudden shot from within.

"Dad-EE!" That was Furita stamping her foot. "I never do ANYTHING at the Blade. I don't wanna go back!"

Kolivan was silent for a long time, making no attempt to comfort his daughter. "No." He simply grunted after a moment. "You are coming home."

"As if I'd EVER go on a mission." Furita grumbled. "If I can't stay here, I'll sit here until I can." There was a thump as she sat on the floor.

Kolivan groaned in frustration, and Acxa realized that he couldn't drag her all the way to the ship. Instead of trying, Kolivan began to drive a bargain. "What about your brother, Furita?" He questioned, probably crossing his arms. "Contor misses you."

"No." Furita's voice was beginning to tremble, but she was stubborn. "I don't care. I wanna stay here."

"Lord, give me strength!" Kolivan prayed aloud, a tint of anger in his voice. "I swear, Furita, you inherit your stubbornness from your mother."

Furita didn't answer.

Kolivan's mate had died several Deca-Phoebs back from a wound she had received on a mission. Now that Acxa thought back on it, it was probably ill-advised to send a blind soldier on a mission to collect quintessence. Especially when she was with child.

"Furita, if you don't move, I shall get Krolia or someone to help drag you into my ship." Kolivan glared, quietly cursing underneath his breath, but loud enough that it reached Acxa's ears.

"Fine. Do that." Furita hissed, sticking her nose in the air. "Father, I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm seventeen! That's past being of age. By Galra law I'm my own person, now, and you can't control me. Besides," she reminded him, raising an eyebrow, "you swore your loyalty to Lotor, remember?"

"If you look at me with those eyes, I swear, I will-"

-there was a pause as Furita probably looked at him sweetly-

"-Furita! You know I can't handle that look-"

-now there was a whimper-

"-oh, Roan," Kolivan breathed, possibly closing his eyes, "look what you've doomed me to."

Acxa knew what this meant, but she forced herself to hold still instead of pulling back and laughing.

"If the Princess says you can stay, you may." Kolivan consented, "Oh, heaven curse my weakness to your eyes."

"Thank you!" Furita sprang up and most likely kissed his cheek. "You're the best, Father!"

"No, I'm not." Kolivan grunted, but Furita was already gone, completely missing the eavesdropping Acxa as she hurried along.

Kolivan glanced up and spotted Acxa's foot, groaning slightly. "Come in, Acxa. How much did you hear?"

Acxa flushed, bowing her head. "Just Furita unveiling her secret power."

"Don't use that against me. I've had enough conspiracies lately to last me a lifetime." Kolivan groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh, how I despise children."

"Good thing I'm an adult in Galra AND Human standards." Acxa grunted, blinking. "So I'm not a child."

"Just…" Kolivan waved her away with his free hand. "I'm pressed for time right now. Tell your mother and brother that we still have missions for them if they want it."

"Thanks." Acxa nodded, knowing that he was referring to ALL the Galra Koganes. She turned, propelling herself from the room. She had a strong feeling that all three of them would not be picking up the offer anytime soon.

* * *

 **Author's note; please review and/or leave a theory down below.**

 **Also, this book is going to come to a close in a few weeks, and I want to tie up any lose knots, and I need your help!**


	19. Chapter 19

"Ow." The whimper was soft, but instantly the noise about Pidge stopped. A bright light shined into her eyes, and she weakly closed them. Was this another session? She thought she was free.

Shiro and Matt had told her so. Or was that an illusion? Shiro's voice had morphed into Matt's voice often. And she had never ACTUALLY seen her surroundings right then.

A session. This MUST be a session. There was a dull prickling in her leg, as if someone was reaching into it and messing around with her muscles. They had already wrenched her arms out of socket and done so many more awful things…what more could they do to her?

They were probably studying her, trying to figure out how humans worked before she died. Then they'd throw her back into the cell, and she'd die, maybe in front of Shiro, and he'd have to witness her death. Then, they'd start torturing him or Keith or…hey, hadn't she heard Furita's voice in the illusions, too? Of course. She had heard Furita's voice often.

She was still being tortured.

Then why didn't it hurt?

Perhaps they were fixing her up so they could torture her in the same manner again and again.

"Okay. We're done. Feel free to get up and walk around." A feminine voice said, coming from Pidge's left somewhere. When there was no answer; the female raised her voice. "I know you're awake, and you're certainly not deaf. For the love of Lotor, just open your eyes, Green Paladin!"

Pidge was scared to disobey, but she was scared of what she would see. But, since she had nothing better to do, she opened her eyes a crack. Instantly she was blinded. Pidge let out a yelp, shielding herself from the bright beam with her forearm.

"Oh. Right. Human eyes don't absorb light." There was a moment's hesitation. "Okay. Open your eyes."

Pidge wasn't sure if she wanted to, so she kept her eyes shut. What if she opened her eyes and saw Haggar again? What if it was a ploy, and when she opened her eyes she's see all the Paladins lying in their own blood? What if…

"Paladin…? Shall I get your friends?"

Don't hurt them! Pidge silently begged as her eyes popped open.

Wait…where was Haggar? And the generals? A Galra male and female stood above her, peering down at her cautiously. Their faces were blank, the only emotion was their wide eyes.

"Want us to get the Paladins?" Asked the male, standing back as Pidge cautiously sat up.

"I…I don't know…?…Where am I?"

The male snorted. "You're at the Zragon Base, Galra HQ, of course! We just fixed up your leg."

"I want to see them…"

"See who?" Asked the female, arching an eyebrow.

"…the Paladins…" Pidge leaned over so that she saw her leg, sucking in a breath as she marveled. It was made of the same material as Shiro's arm, almost like a sentries' leg, except shrunken down. "I want to see them. Go and see them. I don't want them to come see me."

"Of course." The Galra nodded, helping her to her feet.

She walked slowly, having to lean against the wall or stop completely periodically as she moved along.

The Paladins were sitting in the lounge of the Zragon base, surprisingly close to the hospital ward. It was surprisingly like the Castle's lounge.

As soon as the doors opened, everyone raised their heads, and were instantly surrounding the exhausted girl.

Pidge blinked rapidly, shrinking back slightly as they bombarded her with questions like "are you alright?" "How do you like your leg?" "Nothing hurts, right?" And, from Hunk; "are you hungry?"

"Just tired." Pidge was amazed by how those who words silenced everybody. But instead of them taking a step back, like she intended, all the Paladins gathered closer together, wrapping her into a hug. Like when Keith left. But this time, it was HER who was in the middle.

If Pidge raised her eyes, she could see Shiro's soft grey eyes watching her. And behind him, Keith and Allura, both laughing/sobbing as they squeezed her tightly. Hunk was definitely crying, Lance and Matt were staying calm, smiling while they hugged her. Behind them, Lotor stood, smiling every so slightly. Acxa stood next to him, her head leaning against her mother's chest as she watched them.

Furita watched them too, but her eyes weren't on Pidge. They were on Keith, that much was obvious.

Pidge almost burst out laughing, but she held it back.

After a long moment of them holding her, everyone took a solid step back, and helped her to her room, where Hunk brought her food and where she laid in bed, her eyes closing.

Here she was safe. And she intended to stay that way.

* * *

"-and then it turned out Lotor was tricking us! We flew right into that celestial body! Lousy KEITH here didn't even give Pidge time to scan the planet. No, we just followed the bad guy into an obvious trap!" Lance rolled his eyes, nudging Keith as he taunted him.

"Well, it's not my fault Paladins can't tell when to think." Lotor defended himself, mistaking the direction the taunts were pointed at.

"Well, is it REALLY my fault that I wanted to end the empire as soon as I could." Keith flashed back, smirking.

"Dude. You did the same kind of stuff against Zarkon. You almost got killed!"

"At least I unlocked the plasma cannon." Keith grunted, slouching in his seat.

"Sure, I bet THAT came in handy when you fought Zarkon's mega armor." Acxa rolled her eyes sniffing.

"No! He never used it again after that first fight with Zarkon!" Lance laughed, shaking his head.

"Seriously? Never?" Krolia sniffed, glancing at Keith disdainfully. "I'm disappointed in you, son."

"It was smart. The Lions don't have unlimited power." Furita stated, shrugging.

"They don't?" Asked Keith. "Honestly, I forgot I had it."

"You always did have a bad memory." Shiro chuckled. "What did you call me those first several days in foster care? 'Hiro'?"

"I was eight, Shiro!" Keith shrugged. "And I'll bet ACXA has a bad memory too!"

"Nope. I was blessed with a quick mind, Keith Akira Kogane." Acxa mocked, fiddling with her lock of hair.

"Akira? Who thought of that?!" Lance laughed.

"I did." Krolia grumbled. "I challenge you to a sword fight after brunch if you have a problem with his name."

"Don't worry, I was just messing around." Lance assured her, holding his hands up in surrender.

Krolia grunted, leaning back into the chair. "Sure." She sarcastically agreed. "Anyway, what happened with the trap?"

"Huh?" Hunk blinked.

"The story Lance was telling." Lotor reminded him.

"Oh. Right."

"So. There we were. As silently as ninjas we crept up behind Lotor, his ship's engines flaring as if saying 'come and get me!' But suddenly the disappeared from view!" Lance dramatically paused, grinning.

"Are you seriously telling them about the gas planet?" Pidge asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "Com'n Lance! And without me, too!"

"Pidge! You ruined my story!" Lance complained, pouting.

"You were doing that on your own." Allura jibed.

"Hey!"

"Calm your wuggle, Lance. It was just a joke." Coran chimed, always defending the princess.

Shiro pushed back from his seat, giving Pidge a confident grin. "Good morning, Pidge. Sleep well?"

"Better then in the cell." Pidge responded evenly. "Anyway, don't mind me. Lance, sorry for interrupting. Proceed."

"Keith ordered us to go tail to tail to tail to tail to tail." Lance continued, lowering his voice to a frosty, scary tone as Pidge took a seat. "Then, suddenly, Lotor rushed out of nowhere, breaking out formation! We instantly fired our lasers at him, before we discovered it was a trap! The lasers exploded in our faces, knocking us all over the place!"

Krolia's eyes widened ever so slightly as she pounded her fist against the table. "So it wasn't Keith's fault! It was Lotor's." She triumphed loudly. "For leading you there in the first place."

"Well, it was Keith's poor planning that got us in that situation-" Hunk began, but was promptly interrupted.

"How was I supposed to know it was a trap?!" Keith protested, flinging his arms in the air. "Besides, who's more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?"

"The fool who follows him." Acxa deadpanned. "It's an obvious queery."

Pidge offered him a sympathetic pat on the back, smiling slightly. "There, there."

Everyone laughed, shaking their heads.

"We missed you, Pidgy." Lance smiled, ruffling her hair.

"Don't call me that." Pidge grumbled, re-adjusting her glasses. "Anyway, where's Matt?"

"He's helping a few rebels set up a base in a Galra command ship that Keith and Acxa captured." Shiro told her.

"Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that. What the quiznak happened to your faces?" Pidge asked, pointing at the twins.

"We might as well broadcast our answer to the entire universe at this point." Keith grumbled.

"I'm sick of repeating myself." Acxa groaned. "We had a run-in with the witch. Apparently these are birthmarks of some sort."

"Oh." Pidge blinked, feeling like a jerk.

There was silence from everybody for a few doboshes as they realized just how far they had come. To think that a year ago, if they had been told about Voltron, they would have believed it was a myth. (Or had been in Cryo-sleep.) And now…they couldn't imagine life without it.

"Guys." Keith stood, holding a cup in one hand. "I want to propose a toast. A while ago, after my father died, I was-using Pidge's words-a loner. I suppose I still am. But not as I once was. I used to push everyone away. I didn't treat anyone as friends, much less family. But over these last several months, Voltron had changed me. So, to Shiro, who has been like a brother to me. To Pidge, who has been a fellow people-hater, to Hunk, who always knows when I need a hug. To Allura, the best older sister I could ask for. To Acxa, my actual sister who surprisingly has the same vowel that starts her name. To Coran, my crazy adopted uncle who can always make me laugh. Usually inwardly, but still. To Krolia, my mother who defends me with tooth, claw, and threatening words. To Furita, who cared for and comforted me the full time we were captured. To Lotor, who I honestly still can't figure out. And finally, last and doesn't consider himself least, Lance, my younger brother who supports me even though we fight. Constantly. You guys are the reason I wake up every day. So, to Team Voltron!"

"To Team Voltron!" Everyone agreed, knocking their glasses together.

Keith sat down, happiness over flowing his heart. He had never been confident enough to do that, but now…

"Your father is dead?" Krolia whispered, just loud enough for Keith to hear. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I forgot that I didn't." Keith admitted, in an equally quiet voice. "Sorry. Hey, are you okay?"

His mother's shoulders were already shaking, obviously holding back tears. She brushed him away, pushing past him and out of the room.

Acxa, shocked by how her mother was acting, followed her out.

Keith, after checking to make sure everyone wouldn't miss his absence, slipped out, meeting them in Krolia's room, Acxa in vain trying to comfort her.

Keith sat down next to them, biting his lip. His mother had truly loved his father. The fact that he was dead wouldn't leave for a while.

"How did he die?" Asked Krolia, her voice cracking.

Taking a deep breath, Keith hoped in on the tale.

* * *

Pidge and Shiro wandered about the castle, looking at all their haunts. It seemed such a long time, even though it was just a week of felt like years, since they had last been here.

They also talked as they moved, chatting mostly about Haggar and what a big threat she was as long as she was on the loose.

At one point they wandered near the dorms, and were surprised to see Krolia waiting for them, her eyes slightly tear-stained.

"Shiro, I would like to talk to you." Krolia motioned him into her dorm.

"Uh…sure. Just a moment." Shiro nodded, then turned to Pidge.

"We can talk later." Pidge waved him on, already beginning to move down the hall. "I'll meet you in the lab."

"Okay." Shiro smiled after her, then looked at Krolia.

"I know that face." Krolia told him, walking into her room as she sent him a mischievous grin.

"What face?" Shiro asked, switching his expression back to his neutral look.

Krolia smiled, gesturing after Pidge. Besides that, she didn't answer, instead standing next to Keith and Acxa, who were also in her room.

Keith was gaping at Shiro, his gaze wandering from his leader to Krolia and back again.

Acxa was staring at Shiro, her eyes seeming to pry into his soul.

"What's going on?" Shiro asked, trying to shake off the looks he was given.

"I wanted to tell you three something important about your father." Krolia informed them, gesturing to a few chairs and her bed. "Please, have a seat."

"Wait, my father, or their father?" Shiro asked, choosing one of the chairs to sit down in.

"Both." Krolia sighed, sitting on her bed, Keith pressed close to her as he eyed Shiro. "Keith, why don't you tell Shiro your father's last words?" She commanded.

Keith managed to tear his gaze from the Black Paladin and to watch his mother. "He-he said 'tell my sons I love them'…"

"Indeed. When I lived with Ken, he was always taking about his former wife, whom he had divorced, and his son." Krolia told them, clasping her fingers together as she stood.

Shiro began to feel uncomfortable, fidgeting. Acxa and Keith were doing the same behavior, glancing at each other and at him uncertainty.

"Keith tells me that your real name is Takashi Shirogane."

"I go by Shiro." Shiro curtly responded, lifting his head boldly.

"Right. But that is your real name?"

"Yes…"

"Was your father's name Tadashi, and your mother's Aki?"

"Yes. Where are you going with all this?"

Krolia was pacing, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Mom speculates that you're her step son." Acxa whispered, leaning over. "And our half-brother. She isn't sure…but…" Acxa pulled away as her mother began to speak again.

"You lived in Kochi, Japan?" Krolia asked, her step never wavering.

"Holy crow!" Keith snapped, standing as he eyed his mother. "Just get on with it!"

"One last thing, Keith." Krolia leaned over Shiro so that their noses almost touched. "Your father divorced your mother and disappeared when you turned four, normal Earth time, correct?"

"Okay, apparently, I'm exactly who you were describing." Shiro told her, placing his metal hand on her nose and pushing her back a few paces. He needed space! He hadn't even told Keith where he lived in Japan, something was fishy here, and if Acxa were right…

"Mm…" Krolia nodded, sitting down once more on her bed. "It appears he is one of those 'sons' that Kenneth referred to in his last words, kids."

All three of them, although they had predicted it, sat stunned as they looked at each other.

"Wait…he's not Galra, is he?" Acxa asked, gesturing to Shiro. "Just Keith and I, right?

"Wait…I'm these two's HALF BROTHER?" Shiro yelped, recoiling from the three other people in the room. "Does this mean I have their birthmarks?"

"Mom," Keith began, standing. "I cannot accept this. Shiro IS like a brother to me…but he's my foster brother, too…isn't this a little overkill?"

"No, yes, yes, no, depends on your train of thought." Krolia shrugged, lifting her hands in surrender. "Don't kill the messenger."

Keith and Acxa stared at each other, their mouths moving slightly as they had a sibling conversation.

Shiro stood up abruptly, he needed to think, and left the room.

"Shiro!" Krolia called after him, but he ignored her.

Instead, Shiro sought out Pidge, who, true to her word, was in the lab, bent over her leg, wires spilling from all ends.

"Hi!" She greeted him, standing as her foot whirred, giving a groan of protest. "Uh-oh. What's wrong?"

Shiro sat down next to her, frowning. "Apparently I'm the Twins' half-brother."

"What." Pidge blinked at him, her mouth part open in amazement. "Shiro, stop messing around. What was it really about? Or are you aloud to say?"

Shiro didn't blame her for not believing him, in fact, he was five percent sure that Krolia was messing with him. "It's true. She sounded like she really believed it."

Pidge's hands tightened on the table, her eyes flashing. "Are YOU part Galra?"

"No, Fortunately."

"Good." Pidge spat out the word, poking her finger into her leg. "I wouldn't be able to STAND it if you were."

"Does that mean you can't stand Keith?"

"No. He…he's different, Takashi." Pidge's voice lowered. "Keith's always been…odd. I don't mean just in my sense, I mean…people in the Garrison would always mention how he was a strange guy, great pilot, but…" Pidge made the crazy symbol around her head. "I'm STILL not sure what to make of him, but he's Keith. He's a good friend." Pidge lowered her head again, not telling Shiro anything else about her thoughts.

Finally she lifted her head, having put her leg back together, and took Shiro's right arm in her hands.

"You haven't used your arm very much, if at all, today. What's up?"

"Zethrid broke it during our 'stay'. I haven't had the time to have it looked at, much less fixed."

"May I take a look at it?" Pidge asked, and Shiro agreed.

After a moment Pidge frowned, separating the wires gently. It hurt Shiro slightly, and she didn't yet know if there was a way to turn off the connection to his brain and nervous system.

"When we were talking earlier, I didn't mean to make it sound as if I'd hate you if you were Galra. I just didn't know what to think. If you were Galra…I don't know. It just wouldn't feel right anymore."

"Honestly, I'm relieved I'm not Galra. I feel sorry for Keith and Acxa, though. Galra are looked down upon by almost all species because of their conquering nature. But half breeds have it even worse. Galra look down upon them, and so do the other species. They can't go anywhere and be viewed as equals."

"I suppose Lotor did a good thing by accepting them into his mists."

Pidge hummed. "So they're all in one group."

"I wonder if ALL his soldiers were half-bloods." Shiro frowned, pursuing his lips.

"Hey, I don't know everything, prior to what I WANT you to believe. That's a question best suited for Lotor."

Shiro laughed, ruffling her hair. He had missed her smile. A lot.


	20. Chapter 20

Shiro walked silently down the hall, his footsteps barely making any sound. His gaze stared straight ahead, an unwavering rhythm to his step.

He pressed his hand gently on a panel, and the door beside him slid open.

Shiro peaked in, smiling slightly.

Lance was stretched out on his bed, face up. A mud mask covered his face, and he had headphones on.

Shiro closed the door gently, chuckling. He wondered if Lance had actually been asleep.

The next room was Keith's.

Shiro peaked in, startled when he saw three figures in his room. He took a closer look, making out the blurry shapes of Acxa and Keith, their backs pressed against each other.

Krolia was standing over them, her glowing eyes casting the room in a yellowish tint. She turned to look at Shiro as he entered, pressing a finger to her lips.

She joined him in the doorway, following him out.

"It took me forever to get them asleep. If you wake them up, I swear to God that I will kill you." Krolia hissed. "Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Just a little headcount." Shiro explained, giving her a sad smile and trying to disguise his exhaustion.

Krolia studied him for a long, agonizing moment. "You're just like him, you know that, right?"

"I don't. He left when I was FOUR, Krolia." Shiro grunted. "I know almost nothing about him."

"Well, you're alike. Whenever he had a nightmare or came home late, he would always do a headcount. Always. I bet he was thrown off a few times once Acxa and I left." Krolia's voice almost sounded like a purr. "Do you want accompaniment?"

"Thank you, Krolia." Shiro nodded, leading her to the next room.

Matt was typing on a hand-made computer while he sat in his bed, the covers drawn up to his waist. He didn't appear to notice Shiro or Krolia, showing no indication that he knew they were in his doorway.

Lotor was also awake in the next room, writing something down in a device in his hand.

"Good evening, Princ-uh-Shiro and Krolia." Lotor blinked, surprised by their presence.

"How're you doing?" Shiro asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Tired. Running an Empire is exhausting. And how are you? Don't Earthlings need sleep?"

"I'm fine. Just doing a head count." Shiro shrugged, leaving after that.

Krolia grinned maliciously behind him. "Who did he think we were."

Shiro had to laugh. "I like to leave SOME things a mystery. Although this isn't MUCH of a mystery."

"True." Krolia grinned. "I though Acxa was asleep though, not planning on talking to Lotor."

Shiro barely managed to stifle a face-palm, pretending to agree with her. "I guess she's as good as keeping secrets as you."

"What the quiznaking ruggle does that mean?!" Krolia asked; jokingly raising an eyebrow.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell us about Keith and I being half-brothers right away."

"I had to be sure! Besides, there's what, seven trillion-"

"-billion-"

"-people on Earth. You may have shared a name with another Japanese kid."

"I'm an adult." Shiro told her matter of a factly.

"According to Hunk, you're six." Krolia smirked. "So, do Japanese age faster? I mean, Keith is eighteen and he LOOKS younger then you. You already have white hair."

"How long were you on Earth?"

"Five…maybe six deca-phoebs. Why?"

"Okay. Did Dad ever tell you what each day was?"

"Of course. He knew EVERYTHING. 'Two years ago today you saw your first rattlesnake!' 'Happy birthday, Twins!' It made no sense. The twins had been born several years prior. So why did he congratulate them on being born?"

"Okay." Shiro sighed. "A birthday is an anniversary of your birth. So, when a kid is born, we celebrate its birthday years after its born."

"That makes no sense. Why isn't the mother congratulated instead? After all, she's the one who spent the HOURS of labor to bring a child into the world."

"Uh. It's basically just being happy that the baby WAS born. Not like…a miscarriage or a still-born."

"Keith and Acxa have three full siblings. Two were miscarriages and one was a still-born." Krolia whispered. "And Keith was almost a still-born. He swallowed some water before birth, so he didn't breath."

"I'm sorry. It must have been hard on you."

"I expected that ALL of them would die." Krolia smiled, although her face was still sad. "I told Ken again and again, 'the baby will die. It's impossible for hybrids to function.' But he always believed. He even got one of these for each member of our family. We just wanted one baby, so he got three…" Krolia showed Shiro a purple necklace dangling from her neck, the Blade of Marmora symbol carved onto it.

"Acxa has one just like it." Shiro noted, fingering the necklace.

"Well, like previously mentioned, Kenneth only made three. We didn't have wedding rings, because we weren't, and couldn't be, technically married by law, be we said all the vows. So these basically serve as wedding rings AND a family crest."

"Dad was skilled." Shiro blinked, releasing the necklace.

"Okay. I shouldn't say 'made'. He was a beginning artist, so he sketched the insignia in my blade, and took the paper to the blacksmith. Ken asked the smith to make three necklaces with this symbol. He paid good GAC for it, or, as Earthlings call it, money. But a strange movie that Ken showed me called it 'Republic Credits'."

"Is this real stone?" Shiro asked, realizing it didn't look plastic.

"It's Amethyst. It took a LOT of studying to figure out what stone would be good to use. We tried two different kinds of Quartz , then Pearl, Ruby, and finally Sapphire. We both liked Sapphire, but it was too expensive. We eventually got so tired of arguing, that we shuffled all the kinds of rock we could afford, and Amethyst came out on top. If memory serves, we made the decision right before our first baby was born. We planned to name her Cody, but…she was a still-born. So we…we hurried up for nothing."

Shiro felt strange laying his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, his movements awkward. After all, she was his step-mom.

Krolia grinned at him, lifting his hand like a rag doll from her shoulder. "I have trained myself to attack anyone who touches me, so be careful."

"Sorry." Shiro blinked, standing akimbo. Then, as an afterthought, added, "habits."

"I understand habits." Krolia laughed dryly. "Don't worry about me; I'm pleased that she was born, even if she was dead."

"That's awful that you expected her to die." Shiro whispered, knocking lightly on Coran's door. When there was no answer, he peaked in. The old adviser was sleeping, so Shiro closed the door again.

"Do you know what gender the miscarriages were?" Shiro asked, feeling his stomach tighten as he thought of death.

"No. But Kenneth and I decided that one was a boy, and one was a girl. It was a compromise. We named them Heather and David. The both died around five months, so we should have gotten an ultrasound, but I was an alien! So I didn't have an Earthling health plan. Besides, there wasn't any other health operations in the program that accepted Galra, not even the Martians! Besides, I had no means of travel; I couldn't go to Galra! The Blades had to send a ship for me years later."

Shiro nodded, frowning. He wondered if the Twins knew about their deceased siblings.

Furita slept in the next room; a quick check confirmed that. As Shiro peaked in, spotting her sleeping on her bed, she stirred slightly. Shiro made sure to make no noise as he closed the door.

"So…" Krolia raised an eyebrow at him, trailing behind. "…you and Pidge, huh?"

"I wish-Wait, no, what-?!" Shiro spluttered, staring at her in shock.

"Ha!" Krolia laughed, tossing back her head. "I knew it! Ken used to give me the same looks you give her." She punched him in the arm. "It's completely natural."

"That's not what I-"

"Deny it all you want, it only adds to the facts."

"Please," Shiro rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Don't tell anyone."

"Of course not. They'll have to find out on their own." Krolia grinned. "I don't want to be the type of mother who asks about relationships or spreads gossip."

"Okay. Just…okay."

They walked in silence for a moment or two.

"Allura's the last person we need to check, right?" Krolia asked, tilting her head at the man who outranked her.

"I'm saving Pidge and Hunk for last. I want to check on Ezor and Zethrid, too. I'm worried they might try to escape."

"Ah. I see." Krolia nodded, tilting her head towards an elevator. "The brig is closer. Shall we…?"

"Okay."

Moments later they were both standing in the metal box, watching the cell get closer with every tick.

Krolia frowned, peering down at the cell. "I thought it would be…bigger. Did we supply them with ANYTHING to pass the time?"

"Well…no. But they have each other." Shiro pointed out, smiling sheepishly. "I didn't really think of that."

Krolia sniffed in disgust as the elevator arrived at its destination, opening.

"Greeeaat." Ezor greeted them, glaring at them from her place in the floor. "It's the fun police." Then, in a slightly fearful voice, added, "are you here to kill us? Torture us? I swear, I know nothing."

She was hardly older then Pidge, Shiro realized. She was experienced, trained to do whatever she could to survive. But…she was just a kid.

"None of the above." It was Krolia who spoke first. "The question is, what are you doing here, kid?"

"Uh…I'm in jail. Duh. Held here against my will. Which I suppose we did to him and his allies." She nodded towards Shiro. "Now, could you keep it down? Zu-zu's asleep." She nodded towards Zethrid, who was stretched out on the bed, hardly moving.

"I think you misunderstood. What are YOU doing here? Do you know why you ended up in this cell?"

"Because you captured me?"

Krolia sighed, but shot a look at Shiro. 'I got this,' it seemed to say, 'finish your headcount.'

Shiro nodded, first to Krolia, then as a brief, yet respectful, farewell to Ezor. Then he left, watching Krolia talk to Ezor below.

Once alone, he sighed. He WISHED that he could see Krolia as his mother, as his step mother, or Acxa as his half sister. But he couldn't. Not now. He wish…he wished that his father had taken him with him. Taken him away from Japan. Then he MIGHT have accepted the…ALIENS as family. He wished that Krolia wasn't making an effort to get to know him. If only he could only leave it as…'she's the twins mother'.

But…alas, he couldn't.

Shiro stepped from the elevator, frowning as he walked towards Allura's room.

Before he got there and could touch the door, it opened, and Allura buzzed out, nearly colliding with Shiro.

"Oh!" Allura blinked, back peddling. "My apologies, Shiro. I…"

Shiro mildly shook his head. "I'm fine, Allura. What are you doing up?"

Allura shrugged, blushing deeply. "Nothing! Well, Lotor asked me to help him find a good way to contact his generals while he's away from the Zragon Base, so…" Allura cleared her throat before raising an eyebrow at Shiro. "And how about you?"

"Headcount." Shiro shrugged, smiling slightly.

"Oh. While you're at it, will you check on Ezor and Zethrid?"

"Krolia's with them now."

"Oh?" Allura raised her eyebrow. (What was with Allura and the word Oh?!) "Is that right? What's she trying to do? Convince them to join us? That's already been attempted."

"That's exactly what she was trying to do." Shiro sighed, barely managing to stop his eyes from rolling. He wasn't annoyed at Allura, but mostly at Krolia. He was pretty sure she couldn't make them changer their minds-

"Shiro!" Krolia screeched into the room, panting. Spotting Allura, she curtsied slightly. "Princess. I got Ezor to change her mind!"

Allura started, her eyes flashing. "What?!" She gapped.

"Ezor said she wanted to join." Krolia calmed herself, a slight smirk on her lips. "I think we should give her and Zethrid a chance and see what they do."

"Excellent! I would like to talk to them." Allura smiled, glancing at Shiro for a moment with a slight waver in her expression, and headed out.

Shiro stared after her, frowning. Huh. Well, he better check on Hunk and Pidge.

Hunk was obviously sleeping, that part was clear, drool trickling out of his mouth. Well, gross.

Despite how disgusted Shiro was, he managed to close the door quietly.

It was humorous, actually. The Paladin dorms even were positioned in Voltron formation, with the guests all on the right side. Allura was the only Paladin who lived in a different wing, being royalty and all.

So Pidge's took was beside Shiro. Shiro opened the door, peering in, then frowned in confusion. This made no sense…he thought she had cured her insomnia...

* * *

Pidge wasn't in her room, and she certainly WASN'T sleeping. On the contrary, she was wide awake on the other side of the castle.

After the Paladins had stolen all of Haggar's supplies, they had stored them in a lab far away from anything else in the castle. And that's where Pidge was.

Pidge was experimenting with the poisons, separating their ingredients. Whenever she came upon a toxin that had been used on her, she worked more thoroughly on it, horror setting in as she learned what kind of pains they could inflict.

This is how Shiro found her a varga later. She was bent over her work, a few machines around her that helped part the liquids.

Shiro stifled a sigh of relief, coming up behind her. Then his heart turned cold as he, too, recognized some of the elixirs, including, of course, Prokon and Haggarium. Shock struck him hard.

Shiro rested a hand on Pidge's shoulder, biting the inside of his lip.

Pidge, startled by the touch, whirled around to face him, gasping. "Oh! Oh. Oh, it's just…you." Her shoulders slumped in relief. "Sorry for…yeah."

Shiro suddenly couldn't help it. "What are you DOING, Katie?! Do you want to give yourself a panic attack?!"

"Of course not!" Pidge snapped back. "I just want to be ready for next time."

"Next time?" Shiro's voice lowered threateningly. "NEXT time, Katie? Do you WANT there to be a 'next time'? Are you planning on there being a 'next time'?!"

"No! But I need to be prepared, right?!"

As suddenly as Shiro had lashed out, he gathered her into a hug. "NO, Katie. I hate the thought of there being a 'next time'. I'll never let them touch a single quiznaking hair on your head ever again. I would be captured and tortured a hundred times over is it meant your safety."

"Takashi…" Pidge held back her tears, squeezing her eyes shut. "Don't tell yourself that. PLEASE. This is war, we'll all be captured at some point. Don't tell yourself that you can defend us when…when you can't."

"No. Never. Never. Never YOU, Pidge. Never you. Not again." Shiro tucked his head over Pidge's, her head trapped between his chin and neck. "Not again."

Pidge began to sob, her shoulders rattling. "But what if it DOES happen again?"

"Never again." Shiro repeated, his tears falling on Pidge's hair. "It can't EVER happen to any of you again."

Pidge closed her eyes, flinging her hand around his body as she hugged him close. "Never to you, either, Takashi. Please. Don't you DARE save our lives for the expense of your own."

"Katie…"

"Promise me. Don't do it, Takashi." Pidge grabbed him even more tightly, tilting her head up just enough so that he could see her piercing, brown eyes.

"I…I can't! The last time I agreed to a promise of yours, I ended up being torn up from the inside. I won't…no, can't, make another oath." Shiro sighed, resting one hand on Pidge's shoulder. " I don't expect you to understand."

"I know." Pidge nodded, her movement rubbing against Shiro's chest. "But I do understand. I wish I didn't, but I do."

Shiro smiled slightly burying his face in her harvest called curls. He managed to hold back his tears, forcefully smiling.

"Takashi." Pidge pulled back, staring at him bravely. "Thank you."

"Why? All I've done today is yell at you like Kuron." He spat the a name like venom, wondering how many clones were out there. Hopefully, Best case scenario, none.

"No. That's not what you did. Quiznak, this feels weird." Pidge laughed dryly. "You actually made me less scared of whatever isn't here." She jingled a bottle full of a green, bubbly substance. "You... You never snap at me through anger. I know that. You, sorry if this is wrong, snap at me through justified reasons. You're worried, I get that. I, we, never EVER should've thought Kuron was you. I can't believe we ever did even for a tick. That's not you. And...You snapping let me know that you certainly aren't Kuron, weird as that sounds."

"But Kuron was a clone of me." Shiro protested.

"Looked like you, maybe. Sounded like you, maybe," Pidhe counted off the facts on her fingers and she smirked. "Had your memories, maybe. But that was probably the result of Haggar having direct connections to your arm, which was basically a radio."

"So she can still be listening through my arm?" Shiro gaped, feeling uneasy as his prosthetic hand clenched.

"I don't think so." Pidge frowned, her face scrunching up. "At least, not anymore. Remember when I repaired your arm? I found the transmission chip." Pidge reached info her pant pocket, revealing a microchip, "I am currently studying it off and on."

Shiro gazed at the way rise lit up and she explained what you found in the chip, her smile growing as she rambled. He also realized that the entire time since she found him they had had a full conversation about Kuron without Pidge reaching her arm to defensively cover her stomach.

He also discovered something in those few, brief moments. No matter where he was, he wanted to spend that time with her.

Little did he know, Pidge felt that same way.

* * *

 **Author's note; So apparently there's two reasons to celebrate today. Number one; SEASON 6 TRAILER! Who else loves it?! Number two, on a much lower note, the final chapter. There will be a short Epilouge coming out any day now.**

 **Challenge; do you think we can reach 42 reviews before the Epilouge comes out?!**


	21. Epilouge and Dedication

Dinner usually passed silently, but, one day, something important was on two of the occupants' minds.

Allura stood shakily, eyeing the Paladins nervously. Her gaze swept over them all, stopping on The Kogane's marks, lingering on Lance's expectant face, pausing over Hunk's happy expression, focusing on Pidge's eyes, sweeping over Shiro's rugged jaw, towards Coran, who was fiddling with his mustache, past Ezor's long tentacle and across Zethrid's large ears, and finally landed on Lotor, who sat beside her.

"Paladins, Lotor and I have something important to announce." She told them, her right hand tightening into a worried fist. "As of these last few months, we have been working together on the quintessence project."

"And you found a solution?" Hunk interrupted, staring into her purple eyes hopefully.

"Not quite." Allura smiled. "But we are getting close. Lotor and I have traveled to Oriande together, and have participated in several different diplomatic missions as of late."

"So, as a result, we have been brought closer together." Lotor stood too, wrapping his arm around the princess. "I have asked Allura to be my Empress, and she has agreed."

There was a moment of stunned silence, frowns spreading across the group.

Then the first round of applause came from Lance, a smile beginning to blossom on his face. "Congratulations!" He laughed.

"When is the wedding?" Asked Hunk, as everyone began to clap.

"In three months, if we're lucky." Allura smiled, leaning her head against Lotor's chest.

"I would like to ask each of you to come, and to participate in the ceremony."

"Of course we'll be there." Shiro responded, smiling. "We'll help in anyway we can."

Everyone sounded their agreement, except for Pidge, who simply nodded.

Thus Lotor and Allura were married, bearing a bright, happy young baby boy just a few years later. Years upon years later they managed to have a daughter, too. They ruled over the Galra with a kind, yet firm, government, serving as their leaders for years to come.

Coran served as their advisor until the end of his long life span, too.

Meanwhile, Acxa prospered. She became a body guard of Lotor's, but managed to keep her status as a scientist. Because of this, she was the envy of many half-breeds, both in looks and employment. She tended to round up boys by the dozens, date them for a few weeks, then promptly dismiss them. As her brother liked saying, 'You can take the Galra out of the evil, but you can't take the evil out of the Galra.' That phrase fit Acxa perfectly, although she temporarily married and had a baby before her husband died.

Keith was discovering a new type of family. Furita and his platonic relationship had developed gradually into a priceless romance, eventually ending in marriage and a son.

Krolia, on her part, re-entered her field of Marmora work, training Ezor for her eventual Trials of Marmora. She courted Kolivan for about a week once, before realizing that if they eventually happened to get together, that'd make Keith and Furita siblings, and that would be weird. She stayed single for the rest of her life.

Ezor, after officially joining the Blades, discovered romance. But it wasn't with one of the Galra foot soldier that she used to woo. Instead it was with a Blade who had been like a brother to her. Vrek and Ezor married two years after their meeting and had three children.

Zethrid never ended up joining the Blade, serving instead as the leader of the top Galra soldiers in Lotor's guard. She led several raids against rebelling troops, easily either defeating them or bringing them back to their side. She never found a man who was stronger then her, so never married.

Hunk returned to the Balmera, finding Shay more mature, twice as beautiful and kind, and still awaiting him. They were bound together in a glorious ceremony, and went then to a central rebel base dedicated to helping old inmates of the Galra empire get on their feet. While working there, they saw devastations best not described. But instead of melting their appreciation for the world around them, it multiplied their love by a large number. Later on they returned to Earth to help prove that aliens were real, and to start a restaurant. There, they also proved that female Balmera and Human hybrids could thrive, but that didn't happen for several years.

Lance went to visit his friends, the mermaids, and met a pretty woman, by name of Kallie. And their respect for each other, bloomed into wonderful love. This ended in a slimy, blue egg that later hatched into a boy/fish thing. Lance found a house on Earth that had a large swimming pool, and planted sea life at the bottom. He moved in with his wife, and became a movie star, starring in several entertaining movies and shows, such 'When Stars Come to Us', 'Fire on the Horizon' and the cartoon 'Freedom in Space'.

Matt also returned to Earth, preferring to move from place to place constantly helping set up and construct defense systems. Many believed that they were now needless, but most still knew that Haggar, although in hiding, still was out there somewhere. Ginger, an old friend of his from the Galaxy Garrison, became his partner as he traveled around the world. He became the head of the Garrison, managing the entire planet's fought program. Needless to say, he did an excellent job. Ten years after his promotion, he married Ginger, and they had four kids.

Shiro, while all of this was happening, made quite a name for himself. He was the chief space police for the entire solar system. Oddly, he hated resting and relaxing after his Voltron career, preferring to always have something in his metal hand. He also hated paperwork. He woke up early in the morning, and, more often then not, stayed up for half the night taking care of problems in the system. Who knew one sector could be so troublesome? It helped that Pidge had modified his arm, but even so… Despite his busy schedule, he managed to have a little time set aside for his wife and two children.

The moment Pidge turned eighteen, she was engaged. Before she was eighteen and a half, she was married and pregnant. Shidge officially became canon on July 10th. She was a known scientist, founding the first colony on Kerberos, and designing large space stations the size of Seattle. Around this time, the Shirogane twins came into the world. Being the great scientist yet poor parent that she was, she often left the children at 'Uncle' Hunk's or 'Uncle' Lance's, claiming that it would be good practice for when they became parents. When they turned five, she calmed her schedule enough to become a home-mother, but never stopped her work. Nearly twenty years later, she bore triplets.

All together, the children doubled the group of parents. Vince and Larmina were born unto Emperor Lotor and Empress Allura. Acxa had one baby, Narita. Hasher come to Furita and Keith, and Ezor had Regris, Narti, and Antok. Goldy, but she went by her middle name, Kitty, was born to Hunk and Shay, and Fin hatched to Lance and Kallie. Matt and Ginger bore Jeff, Chip, Daniel, and Hope. Shiro and Pidge, finally, had Laura and Shon, and much further in their life, had the triplets, Daiki, Hedio, and Alessandra.

All of the children grew up with adventures pushing their every step, following their parents' paths.

But that's another story…

* * *

 **Author's note;**

 **I'm not sure if everyone caught all the references I made with most of the names. (Hasher and Shon were the only names with no meaning.)**

 **I hope you liked this book as much as I loved making it!**

 **I am going to list all the those who followed, favorited, and reviewed.**

 **First, those who followed. Here are my first three good friends; Anna Sai, BHMSZero, and TheSilverHunt3r. All of these next ones are all of my other followers; 101bubbly, Alicat1944, AnimeGamerGirl23, Annella96, Blue North, , DraconisWinters, Dragon-sensie, Dreamer Rose, Elbereth20143, Electra-Pandora, Fabia96, Fandomcraz, Fangirlpastthelimit, Freedom is choice, Jokul Frostie The Winter Child, Lauramicha, LilyoftheValley77, Lithuania12393, LomboxElite, Melly Black, Minavasqez, MindWizardLex, NeonQueen17, Owlgirl1209, Rosalinda Lancaster Leonheart, Shiranal Atsune, SilverStorm5, Tigermaster85, candty56, dragons starfire, juliewhitehead96, maggiehhillman, and shadowmagi98.**

 **Now for the favorites. Here are my favorite favorites; BMSZero and Ultimate-Hunter-Guyvar. Here are the other people who favorited Discoveries; Alicat1944, AnimeGamerGirl23, , Elbereth20143, Fabia96, Fandomcraz, Lithuania12493, NeonQueen17, Rosalinda Lancaster Leonheart, candity56, dragons starfire, juliewhitehead96, shadowmagi98, and xHatsAndCatsx.**

 **Finally, the reviewers. This is a special thanks to Fandomcraz, BMSZero, and TheSilverHunt3r, whose consistent reviews kept me going. Then the others; RedArrowisSuperCool, GriffTalon, Guest, Jokul Frosti The Winter Child, Rosalinda Lancaster Leonheart, Ultimate-Hunter-Guyver, , and, of course, Anna Sai.**

 **Now to the most special people ever, who this book is dedicated to.**

 **Codylabs, my oldest brother who helped get my account started.**

 **BHSZero, a consistent reviewer.**

 **TheSilverHunt3r, someone who blessed me.**

 **Anna Sai, a friend who understands me.**

 **Fandomcraz, a guy who helped me through the early stages on this book.**

 **Erebororbust, the girl that encouraged me never to give up.**

 **UnderHisWings, who gave me advice.**

 **GriffTalon, who is like a sibling, one of the very best I could ask for.**

 **And finally, Ultimate-Hunter-Guyver, a good friend of mine since my early books.**


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